A Mermaid's Tale
by Crystallord
Summary: When Inu-Yasha and Miroku are at sea, their ship capsizes. A strange girl, Kagome, saves them. They say a mermaid’s kiss every hour will let you live in water for some time, but eventually Inu-Yasha and Kagome want some time to be forever. IYK
1. When The Job Goes Wrong

AN: Ahh, don't you just love this section? *sigh* Okay, from the author who brought you 'A Royal Pain' comes a new fic because the evil known as writer's block killed my newly formed muse! *starts sobbing* Now that's pain! Anyway, this story's kind of been in my head for awhile (a long while). It's not a retelling of the Little Mermaid, because I think I have enough royalty, but yes, Kagome and Sango are mermaids. (Stop spoiling your own fic, stupid!) Ahem, anyway. Inu-Yasha doesn't belong to me (though in my head it's a whole different story mwahaha). It belongs to Rumiko Takahashi and everyone else who owns it (duh). This little disclaimer counts for all of the other chapters, if I get to writing them. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this fic, and I'll try not to put evil cliffhangers, but I've been so scarred by them in other fics that this is my revenge. Reviews would be nice! ^_^ 

Extra AN: *after trying to upload the chapter twenty times* COMPUTER WHY MUST YOU HATE ME?! *sob* although I think I might've pressed the "create story" button one too many times, but…if this story appeared like five times in a row I'm screwed…sorry, just thought I'd share my agony. If you're reading this, then I've won the battle against technology. If the ff.net staff take off this fic because of too many postings…well I've lost. *going nuts* 

When The Job Goes Wrong

            The sun shone brightly on the little town of Houshi. People dotted the streets, greeting everyone they knew. Great ships and tiny boats lined up at Houshi's dock, and the smell of the sea freshened the town's air. 

            In Ramen restaurant, a very normal scene was playing out. A handsome silver-haired man was rolling his eyes as he ate while his brown haired companion flirted with the restaurant's new waitress. 

            Miroku smiled his most charming smile at the new girl, who fluttered her eyelashes at him. "Well, I must say I'm surprised," he said smoothly. 

            "Surprised? About what?" the girl asked nervously. 

            "I never expected Ramen's costumes would look good on anybody, but you completely changed my mind." Miroku sounded awed as the girl giggled. "You wear your uniform like it's a masterpiece for a lady." 

            Beside him, Inu-Yasha coughed, but it sounded more like a gag. He knew that this eat-flirt-run procedure was crucial, as both he and Miroku were poor as dirt, but it didn't stop him from feeling sick. Shaking his head, he tilted his bowl back and tipped everything it contained into his mouth. 

            Miroku was taking his sweet time. He was staring deeply into the now-infatuated waitress' eyes. "Your eyes are beautiful," he breathed. "They make me feel all…let's just say they _enchant me. I just want to—" _

            "Okay, time to go," Inu-Yasha said, standing abruptly. He looked thoroughly disgusted. Miroku thought it probably wasn't a good time to argue with his friend, even though he hadn't finished eating. 

            He stood up as well and sent another brilliant smile towards the waitress. "You wouldn't be so kind enough as to pretend we were never here, would you? I mean, you're so gorgeous we're _sure to come back—"_

            Before the waitress could respond, a sour-faced women entered from the kitchen. She caught sight of the two friends, who froze in shock as they looked at her. She broke into screams, waving a ladle in the air. "You two are bankrupting my restaurant! Go, and never come back!" 

            "Yeah, yeah, she says that all the time," Miroku muttered as both of them sprinted out of the restaurant. "But she loves us too much to actually _mean it." _

            They'd run in a zigzag, just in case the chef send out bloodthirsty assassins like before. Finally Inu-Yasha put a hand on Miroku's shoulder, panting. "Ow, cramp, stop." 

            Miroku skidded to a halt and raised his eyebrow as his friend clutched his stomach. "It's your fault for inhaling your food," he said knowingly. 

            Inu-Yasha sniffed. "At least I got something to eat. You were too busy being disgusting you barely even touched your food."

            They both sighed dramatically. "And that old hag wouldn't even let me do my 'will you bear my child?' speech," Miroku said mournfully, as if he'd been told his mother had just died. 

            His friend rolled his eyes. "It's not like you get a positive answer, anyway. That girl could have shoved your head into the shabu-shabu pot like the waitress from before." 

            Miroku shrugged. "Yes, well…" then he clutched at his chest. With woeful eyes, he sang, "Riffraff, street rat, scoundrel, take that. If only they'd look closer…" 

            "They'd see a man with the mental capacity of a turnip," Inu-Yasha finished. "Now come on, let's go see if we can find more work." 

            Miroku sighed as Inu-Yasha continued walking. "Absolutely no sense of drama," he murmured. "Honestly, just because we're poor it doesn't mean we have to be grumpy about it," he yelled after his friend. He got a rude gesture as a response. Since that was perfectly normal, Miroku grinned and ran towards Inu-Yasha, ready to launch an attack from behind. 

*          *          *

            Unfortunately, when Miroku jumped on Inu-Yasha, the latter had been inching down a very steep road. That extra weight was enough to send them both tumbling down the road in a flurry of arms and legs, and a few punches when Miroku's face was open. Inu-Yasha was yelling about how he was going to sell Miroku as a slave when they crashed into a wall, a very painful stop to Miroku's very painful journey. 

            Inu-Yasha got up, a deadly look on his face. He brushed the dirt off his tattered clothing. "I've heard the flesh trade is booming at this time of the year," he said grimly. 

            Usually Miroku would have replied back, but his eyes were fixed on the wall. A poster was tacked on it, and it had the smiling face of a pretty young girl dressed in noble's clothing drawn on it. The words "Lost at Sea: Will Pay Negotiated Amount Upon Her Return" were bold underneath the picture. 

            Inu-Yasha was now staring at the poster too. "Miroku…this is a noble child. If we find her, we'll be rich," he said breathlessly. 

            "Yeah, I was kind of thinking that too," Miroku mused, "But mostly I was thinking if the lady was so grieved about losing her daughter, I could be a shoulder for her to cry on, you know? Then she'd see I'm a handsome, caring man and fall completely head over heels for me then we'd get married and then_ be __richer than if we saved this girl." _

            Inu-Yasha stared at him, then whacked the side of his head. "Aside from it being a totally moronic idea, you are also the most uncaring person in the world." 

            "Look who's talking, Mr. I-Don't-Care-If-The-World-Ends-As-Long-As-I-Have-Ramen," Miroku shot back. "We'll see who has the better idea when you're a skeleton in the ocean and I'm so rich I have gold dripping off my fingers." 

            "Or rather hanged for sexually assaulting a noblewoman," Inu-Yasha countered. "Come on, let's just go over there, negotiate a price, and see if we can't find the girl. Where does it say we have to go?" 

            Miroku's eyes scanned the bottom of the poster. "Youkai Manor," he read. "That's on the very edge of town, near the road to the city."

            "That's not too far. Okay, let's go!" Inu-Yasha said. He and Miroku looked at each other, grinned, and raced for the other side of town. 

*          *          *

            "Look at her, she's so beautiful!" Kagome's best friend Sango gushed. "Her hair's so thick and black, and her dress is perfect." 

            Kagome smiled as stroked the little girl's hair. She'd found her sinking in the water, during a storm that was occurring above the surface. Kagome had saved her by breathing into her lungs, but she was still unconscious. "What I love the most are her legs," Kagome said, just a hint of wistfulness in her voice. 

            Sango sighed as she touched the human child's feet. "They _are adorable. But don't you think her family is looking for her?" _

            "I'm sure they are, but we can't do anything until she gains consciousness," Kagome replied. "Is the hour up?" 

            Her friend was holding a golden watch, dropped by humans a long time ago. She looked at it. "Yep, I think it's time." 

            Kagome put one her hands behind the girl's head, and bent down. Putting her lips over the child's, she breathed air into her lungs that would last for an hour. It was, after all, only with a mermaid's breath that a human could live underwater.

*          *          *

            Inu-Yasha knew that he was standing in front of a lord, and he had to pay his respects. But all he could think of was _my neck hurts as he was stuck in an excruciating position on the ground, a half bowing half kneeling position. Miroku was stuck in the same way, and Inu-Yasha could hear him mutter about rather being tortured than having to sit like this._

            Finally the lord of the manor stood from his chair. "You may rise," he said in a deep voice. Muscles burning, the two friends picked themselves up from the ground. "You are telling me that you two street rats can find my daughter?" 

            They both bristled, but Inu-Yasha nodded curtly. 

            "My Rin was lost two days ago, setting sail to see her grandfather," Lord Sesshoumaru informed them. "A storm had hit the ship, and she fell overboard. This accident is a great tragedy indeed. I am willing to pay whatever price to have my daughter returned alive." 

            Miroku's eyes were shining as soon as Sesshoumaru said 'whatever price'. "My lord, both me and Inu-Yasha are very experienced sailors. Our fathers were co-captains of their ship _Olympia before it disappeared." Inu-Yasha could hear the very slight edge in his voice, the only evidence that said Miroku was still affected by it. Sesshoumaru probably only heard a voice devoid of emotion (except for greed), because he was interested in something else. _

            "_Olympia__, you say? I have great knowledge of the ships of Houshi. __Olympia__ was easily one of the finest. 'Pride of Houshi', they called her." Lord Sesshoumaru spoke thoughtfully, but then waved a hand. "Anyway that is not the matter. I have sent fifteen ships out from the entire coast, searching for my daughter. I am hoping that I can enlist the help of people who actually know what they're doing." _

            Miroku's head bobbed so vigorously Inu-Yasha was half-expecting it to fall off. "You can count on us, sir. We'll bring back your daughter safe and sound, if not a little beat up." Inu-Yasha stomped on Miroku's foot, and he yelped. "I mean she'll be completely intact," he said, then winced at the stupidity of his words. 

            Inu-Yasha was wondering whether to kick Miroku again when Lord Sesshoumaru raised his eyebrow. "I should hope so," he said in a subtle warning tone. "If not…" his hand traveled to his collar, and his finger made a cutting motion over his neck. 

            The two friends gulped audibly. 

            "Well. Go to the dock. I have readied another search ship, named _Warrior Swift and she will depart in one hour. You will be in charge of the direction she will go. You saw Rin's picture on the poster, I believe, but just to make sure…" _

            From his shirt the lord took a picture and gave it to Inu-Yasha. "This is my daughter Rin. Return her safe to me." Though Sesshoumaru's face remained blank, his voice betrayed what he really felt. That was probably why when they bowed in farewell, they bowed in earnest. 

            "D'you really think we're going to find her?" Inu-Yasha asked doubtfully as they walked out of Youkai Manor. 

            Miroku stopped and stared at Inu-Yasha like he was mad. "Find her? Of course we'll find her, but with that negative attitude things are never going to happen! Besides, I am such a girl magnet she'll probably swim over to _us."_

            "Either that, or the gods will take pity on us for having your ugly face on the ship and send her to us," Inu-Yasha snickered. Both boys were handsome, but it was agreed by all (the girls, and a few guys) in Houshi that Inu-Yasha was the more handsome one. However, because he was so unreachable in the love department, it was agreed that Miroku, with his charm and Cassanova personality, was the more appealing one. Of course, his main flaw was that he asked every girl within five feet of him to bear his child, but that was another story…

            When they reached the dock, they immediately found the ship Lord Sesshoumaru was sending out. It loomed over their heads so high that people thought they were playing limbo as they stared at the top of the mast. "It's gorgeous, but it'll never be as grand as _Olympia," Miroku said quietly. _

            Inu-Yasha nodded his agreement. They stared at the _Warrior for awhile until a crewmember's head poked out over the side. "Oy! You two comin' aboard or naw? Git up before you breaks yer backs! I ain't getting down to unstick you guys, I ain't!" _

            There was an audible crack as Inu-Yasha and Miroku snapped into a standing position. Miroku winced at the guy's words. "We might be poor as dirt, but at least we speak the language good," he said, glaring at the man. 

            "Well," Inu-Yasha corrected, sighing. 

            "Well what?" 

            "Nothing." Inu-Yasha headed over to the planks first. Unlike _Olympia__, who merely had two wooden planks that connected land to the ship (and woe betide anyone who didn't have a good sense of balance), this ship had a wide ramp. Inu-Yasha snickered as he made his way up it. "Hey, Miroku, they must like you here. Now you won't have to swim after the ship like always." _

            "Shut up, you're the one who kept overturning the planks," Miroku shot back, giving Inu-Yasha a shove as he walked ahead of him. 

            "Was it _my fault if all the lady crabs loved you?" Inu-Yasha shouted indignantly after him._

*          *          *

            Kagome stopped swimming and froze. The water felt different. It was moving in a strange way. "There's going to be a storm above land," she announced, stopping the human girl by grabbing her hand. 

            Sango stopped too. "But Kagome, Rin…she has to go back." 

            "If we take her back, the sea will probably swallow her again," Kagome protested. "Don't you feel the currents?" 

            Her friend paused as she felt the water pass around her body. "You're right. But it could just be the sea. Why don't we break surface and check?" 

            Rin, the little girl whom Kagome had saved, was looking back and forth at them nervously. "Is everything going to be okay?" she asked, her voice trembling. 

            Sango smiled comfortingly at Rin. "Of course. We'll get you back to your father soon." 

            Kagome let go of Rin's hand. "I'm going to the surface to see," she told Sango. "Stay here with Rin." She shot up toward the surface, her strong body propelling her forward. 

            With a splash she shot into the air. She spat out water and flicked her hair back. Kagome looked around her surroundings. It was just sky and water for miles around, but Kagome felt a little rush. She'd always wanted to go on land, even if she knew that was impossible. Being above the surface was enough, at least for now. 

            The sky was still bright, although clouds littered the azure. To the humans, it wouldn't look like a storm was coming. Kagome lifted her face to the sun and sniffed the air. The smell of wind and rain and lightning were strong. She could smell the storm coming. 

            Her suspicions confirmed, she dove underwater again. Swimming furiously, she didn't stop until she saw Sango and the human girl. "I was right," she told them. "A storm's coming. We had better alert the rescuers." Sango nodded. The rescuers were a group who scouted the oceans during storms to see if ships had sunk and soldiers were drowning. They breathed air into those still alive and secretly brought them to shore when the humans weren't looking. Kagome and Sango were part of the rescuers. 

            Kagome turned to Rin. "We can't return you to your father just yet," she said softly. "But as soon as the storm lets, we'll bring you back. Do you mind staying with us another day?"

            Rin paused, then shook her head. "I love being here. It's so much fun," she said cheerfully. 

            Kagome and Sango laughed. "Well, that's good to know. Come on, let's head back." The three girls turned away from the storm and headed back to the merworld, but not before Kagome cast a nervous glance behind her. 

*          *          *

            "Head out to open sea, then turn right the moment Houshi disappears," Inu-Yasha instructed the captain. We should see some cliffs, and between the cliffs there are several little beaches where she may have washed ashore. Have you searched the cliffs before?" 

            "No, we never knew about the beaches," the captain replied, sounding surprised. 

            "Well then that's where we'll go." The captain nodded and Inu-Yasha turned back away from him. "Imagine not knowing about the beaches," he grumbled under his breath. "When we buried Miroku in the sand he screamed loud enough to wake the dead." 

            "Ah, yes, fond memories," his friend said dryly, popping up beside him. "You all led a conspiracy against me, even my own father!"

            "Maybe if you hadn't been such a pansy boy…"

            "I was not a pansy boy, I was a _romantic."_

            "Potato, potahto." Inu-Yasha grinned at Miroku's affronted look. Actually, Miroku was far from being a pansy boy. He was often the one who shouted "Hey everyone, watch this!" and Inu-Yasha was the one who had to fish him out of trouble (or mortal peril).

            While the ship coasted through the waters, Inu-Yasha and Miroku leaned over the side, staring down at the water. For awhile only the wind spoke as it sifted through chocolate and silver hair. Then Miroku broke the silence. "Hey, Inu-Yasha, do you believe in mermaids?" 

            His friend turned to him, a skeptical look on his face. "Mermaids? You mean like girls with tails?" 

            "_Beautiful girls with tails," Miroku corrected. _

            Inu-Yasha snorted. "How can girls with tails be beautiful? That's just freaky." 

            "Aside from trying to convince you otherwise, I think I'll just accept the fact that your mind is too mundane to comprehend what I'm saying and continue," Miroku replied in one breath. "Mermaids _are beautiful. I bet they don't have human flaws, like you know, ugliness and old age and stuff. They're immortal creatures, right?"_

            He got a shrug for a response. "I don't spend time researching on things that don't exist." 

            "No, you just eat," Miroku agreed affably. 

            Inu-Yasha was about to snap back, but the wind blew strongly and he stopped. Frowning, he sniffed the air. He looked up at the sky, which was still clear, save a few clouds. "Do you smell that? It's like a storm's coming." 

            Miroku inhaled deeply. "You're right. It's coming from northeast." As sons of two famous sailors, they noticed things that normal seafarers didn't. "We'd better go warn the captain." 

            They crossed the deck to the bridge. However, the captain looked at the sky and sneered. "Are you kiddin' me? It's the afternoon, there ain't no storm! Besides, we don't got Lord Sesshoumaru's girl yet! You wanna get yer head chopped?" 

            "No, but a storm is coming! We're telling the truth!" Inu-Yasha shouted. "We don't know how big it is, but we know there's going to be one."

            The captain glared at them. "I kin tell you how big it is! It's gonna be nonexistent!" 

            As soon as he said those words, a loud rumble of thunder rolled over the ship, rattling the wooden boards. 

            "Uh huh, and I hate women," Miroku announced. 

*          *          *

            With Rin in the care of Kagome's family, she and Sango were able to join the rest of the unit. "We have verified that the storm is coming from northeast," their leader informed them. "Search the nearby area for any ships. Keep a close eye on them until they safely reach shore. If they don't…well, you know the drill." 

            Kagome and Sango nodded. If the ship didn't make it, they'd try and rescue as many overboard sailors as they could. 

            The captain closed his eyes, then opened them. "The storm is traveling quickly. We will have to move out now." Again the two girls nodded. The captain raised his arm into the air as a signal, and fifty merpeople swam upward from their underwater home. 

            "I hope there'll be no shipwrecks," Sango said to Kagome as they made their way to the surface. Because of the merworld's deep location, going there would take a while. 

            "Yes, well, humans have grown oblivious to the sea's warnings," Kagome replied. "They make bigger ships, thinking they'll be protected." Sango nodded her agreement.  

            Soon they spied the silvery sheen that meant the surface of the water. They broke through the water and were immediately sloshed about by the violent waves. 

            Though only half an hour ago Kagome had seen light, now there was none. Rain pelted down, accompanied by flashes of lightning and the warning of thunder. The waves angrily tossed them about like they had no control of their bodies. 

            Kagome spat out some water and coughed. She grabbed Sango's arm so they wouldn't be separated. "Do you see a ship?" she screamed through the storm. 

            Sango's head whipped back and forth, her eyes scanning all directions. Then she pointed fiercely at a tall shadow that was being attacked by the ocean. "There's a ship! It seems like it's in trouble!"

            "Dive!" Both of them followed Kagome's shout, and they returned to the relative calmness of being underwater. 

            "We'll swim underwater until we reach the belly of the ship," Kagome decided. "Hopefully the storm will let them pass, and we can return." Kagome didn't want to admit it, but swimming all day had made her tired. She didn't want to lug soldiers all the way to the shore. 

            Together the two girls waited as the ship swayed in the ocean. 

*          *          *

            "Miroku, this is not the time to say 'I told you so!'" Inu-Yasha yelled, gripping a rope tied to the mast to keep himself balanced. 

            "But it's _true," his friend protested loudly over the rain, his brown hair plastered down his face. "Stupid captain of this stupid ship didn't stupidly listen to my stupid warning!" He didn't sound like he knew exactly what he was saying._

            Suddenly a huge wave lifted the ship and it tilted violently to one side. Inu-Yasha yelped as his grip on the rope loosened and finally let go. He stumbled over the wet deck and crashed straight into Miroku. They slid in a flurry of panicking crewmembers all over the deck who'd also lost their balance. 

            The captain had only agreed to turn back once it started to rain. They'd barely turned the _Warrior around when the sky had grown black and the waves stared playing catch with them. _

            Inu-Yasha cried out in pain as he slammed into the side of the ship. Shoulder burning, he staggered up to the furious tossing of the ship. He nearly fell again as Miroku grabbed his shirt and hoisted himself up. 

            "Head over to the cabins!" Miroku hollered in his ear. Angrily pushing away the curtain of hair that was plastered on his face, Inu-Yasha took a faltering step across the deck. Another wave splashed over the side and water rose to above his ankles. 

            Miroku stopped and surveyed the condition of the ship. Quietly, so no one could hear him over the roar of the storm, he said quietly, "I think this ship is going to sink." 

            No sooner had the words come out than a monster wave lifted the _Warrior and Inu-Yasha found his head making connection with the floor again. This time, however, he didn't crash into the side. With the water on deck cascading on him, he couldn't swim against it. The ship was tilted so drastically that when Inu-Yasha was supposed to hit the side, he flew over it and into the black ocean. _

            "Inu-Yasha!" Miroku shouted. Without another word, he dove into the water to search for his friend. Even though he was usually on the receiving end of Inu-Yasha's insults, they'd grown up since childhood.

            Though Miroku was a strong swimmer, the ocean was stronger. The waves tossed him around like he was a guppy. Several times he dove, searching for the silvery mass of Inu-Yasha's hair. Several times he came up with no result. Eventually, even his strong limbs failed on him until he could swim no more…

            Meanwhile, Inu-Yasha had been knocked out the instant his back hit the water. He sank deeper into the calm water, his limp form caressed by the water. His world was currently blackness, so he did not notice the beautiful girl with black hair gently cradle him against her half –human body. He didn't notice the gentle way the girl drew back his silver hair and placed her soft lips on his, giving him her kiss of life. He was still oblivious when the girl wrapped her arms around him tightly—but not tight enough to hurt him—and drew him deeper into the waters to her world. 


	2. It's Not Kissing, It's Breathing!

            AN: Thanks for all the reviews, guys! They work better than sugar! And forget about that little extra author's note: just sharing my anguish. Wa hah, I updated in TWO DAYS! That's a record! Then again, it's a short chapter (for me) and I wrote it in a frenzy, but still! Uhm, I just want to talk about Inu-Yasha's and Kagome's relationship here. In a Royal Pain, it's a love-hate relationship (or it was). I _was going to do that here, but there's a love-hate relationship in this other fic I'm writing, and there's only so many ways you can write like that. So Inu-chan's and Kagome's ship is more of a he's interested she's interested thing. I guess you can call it fate. As for Sango and Miroku, heck, that's pretty obvious. Okay, enjoy the fic, and reviews are greatly appreciated! Oh, and yes, the name Shoopuf is from FFX. And the "so long as you smile thing" is from Miss Congeniality. Thankee! *runs out looking for muse* _

It's Not Kissing, It's Breathing!

            When Inu-Yasha woke up, the first thing he noticed was that he had a headache the size of Gibraltar. The second thing he noticed was that the ceiling swam, but this could have been because of his headache. 

            No, wait, the ceiling really _did swim. Or rather, it swayed in front of him. __What the--? Inu-Yasha rubbed his eyes and squinted. And that's when he noticed the third thing—that he was underwater. _

            Yelping, Inu-Yasha jolted from his lying-down position and swam around in a frenzy of bubbles. Instinctively he drew a deep breath, then smacked himself for being so dumb. 

            But wait! When he took a breath, no water rushed into his nostrils. Only air. Inu-Yasha frowned, and inhaled again for good measure. He wasn't drowning. In fact, he could actually breathe underwater. 

            He scratched his head. Turning around, he noticed that what he'd been lying on was a bed. An actual bed, although it looked pretty weird. It made of corals and sponges. He walked over to it slowly (_I can walk underwater?) and sat on it, pondering the possibilities. _

            The first conclusion he reached was that he was in heaven. He'd drowned, and now he was in ocean heaven because of his love of the sea. But where was his silly white robe and golden harp? On impulse, Inu-Yasha felt the area on top of his head. No halo. Maybe they didn't have dumb things like that in sea heaven. 

            A sound made him raise his head. The several strings of shells that were lined closely together over an empty place in the wall, forming a door, were rustling. Someone was coming through them. 

            It was a girl. She had long black hair that was just past her shoulders and warm brown eyes. Inu-Yasha noticed that her shirt, which to him was kind of weird, was a thin, shimmery cream-silver material. 

            "Are you an angel?" he asked stupidly, gaping at her. 

            She laughed. "I don't know, a lot of the people say I can be a terror when I'm mad." She was holding a tray of what looked like food. 

            That was when Inu-Yasha realized the 'angel' had a tail, and he nearly fainted again. 

            "Are you okay?" the girl asked, putting the plate down on a table and swimming over to him. 

            Inu-Yasha backed away. "Get away from me!" he shouted.

            She stopped swimming, and looked slightly hurt. Then she broke into a smile and put out her hand. "My name's Kagome. I'm the one that brought you here." 

            "I don't care if you're She-ra," Inu-Yasha snapped rudely. "Just stay away from me!"

            The hurt on her face was quickly replaced by anger. She crossed her arms over her chest. "You know, I'm the one that saved you! If it weren't for me, you'd have drowned." 

            "Wow, and this situation is much better," Inu-Yasha said dryly. 

            Kagome looked at the wall, and Inu-Yasha followed her gaze and saw a clock. "It's almost time," she said, "But if you're going to be so ungrateful I guess I'll just let you die." 

            "Why? What are you going to do?" 

            "Absolutely nothing," she replied, glaring at him. 

            For a long while they had a staring match. Or rather, it was more of an observation match. Inu-Yasha looked at the mermaid, curious. Her upper body was like that of the normal women's, and her chest was covered by that silvery material. He realized that that material was part of her tail, growing into a blue-green color near her waist. Her tail was long and the fin at the end was clear, sparkling with color from the light. 

            Meanwhile, Kagome examined the human boy for the second time, the first being when he was unconscious. His long white-blonde hair flowed around him in the water. She hadn't seen his eyes when he was sleeping, but now she saw they were a challenging golden color. His body was lean but not scrawny. _If only he weren't such a jerk! She thought angrily. _

            _But I can't let him die. Even though she said it, she didn't mean it. Besides, she wasn't allowed to let him die. Drat the law. _

            Kagome sighed in resignation. "Fine!" she cried to no one in particular. She swam over to him. 

            Inu-Yasha backed away again, eyeing her suspiciously. "What are you going to do?" 

            "I need to breathe into you so that you can breathe underwater," Kagome explained. "If I don't, you'll drown." 

            He was about to reply "then let me drown", but then his chest tightened. The next breath he took, water came flooding in with the air. Panicked, he tried to swim upward but was either too frenzied to remember the ceiling or he didn't care. With a hard thud his head made contact with the stone ceiling and, starts winking in his eyes, he sank back toward the ground. 

            Since he was dazed, Kagome took this opportunity to swim towards him. Catching him before he fell to the ground, she quickly pressed her lips to his. 

            What surprised her was how much tenderness she put into the kiss. No, it wasn't a kiss! She shut her eyes and automatically wrapped her arms around his neck, and marveled at how easily the air from her lungs flowed into his. 

            Inu-Yasha was about to push her off, but then he felt the air flowing through his lungs as she gave him the ability to breathe in water. Even in water the back of his neck, where her arms were wrapped around, were burning. _Her lips are soft…_

            "Gosh, Inu-Yasha, you work fast. Well, you know what they say, if you can't find a girl, there's always an immortal species," Miroku said through the shell door. After those words, his grinning head poked through the strings, and he swam inside. 

            Kagome moved back, staring at Inu-Yasha's face. She seemed shocked at something. "I have to do that every hour if you want to keep living," she told him softly. 

            The other boy was blushing furiously, and he seemed subdued now. "Okay," he muttered quietly. 

            The shell door rustled and clinked again, and Sango swam in. She stopped and looked at Kagome, who was biting her lip, and the blushing boy Kagome had saved. Her face broke into a sly grin. "Am I missing something?"

            "No!" Kagome and Inu-Yasha protested together. Miroku let out a cough, which had something that sounded like "yeah right" following after it. Sango nodded in agreement. 

            Kagome crossed her arms over her chest. "Yeah? What about you two? Aren't _you the buddy-buddy team!" _

            Sango looked at Miroku and shrugged. "Oh, he's a lewd man who should be locked up for indecent actions and proposals, but I think I'm safe around him."

            "In other words, she slapped me with the force of a stingray sting," Miroku added. 

            Inu-Yasha had regained his ability to talk. "Instead of acting like you've been breathing underwater and asking mermaids to bear your child all your life, Miroku, why don't you act curious like normal people?" 

            Miroku stuck his nose in the air. "I'm not normal," he said proudly. 

            "Yes, I think we all knew that," Inu-Yasha agreed, putting a hand to his head, where a small bump was forming. "But I've got a question." 

            "What's your question?" Sango asked. 

            "It's nothing much, really, just that I'm wondering _WHAT THE HELL'S GOING ON?!?"_

*          *          *

            After a round of a warm liquid made of sea spices (which, for some reason, stayed in the shell cup rather than blend with the ocean water) the four of them were ready to tell their stories. The idea that Inu-Yasha was surrounded by mermaids was less shocking than before, though it was still mystifying. Inu-Yasha couldn't believe it, but he accepted it, and Miroku had been believing it ever since he saw Sango.

            "I'll start," Miroku said, putting down his cup. "Okay, me and Inu-Yasha had just finished eating—or rather, Inu-Yasha just finished eating enough food to last him till Christmas, while I had a sip of water—and were chased out of the restaurant, because, well, we couldn't pay. So we're out, and I jump on Inu-Yasha because he said something stupid, he lost his footing, and we go rolling down a street." 

            "Why am I the bad guy?" Inu-Yasha wondered. "You were the one being the jer—"

            "Anyway, we crash into a wall, and we come across a poster of a missing girl who was lost at sea. If we found her, we'd be rich."

            "Hang on," Kagome interrupted. "Who is this girl?" 

            Inu-Yasha frowned. "Well, I remember Lord Sesshoumaru calling her 'Rin.'" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a slightly-blurred picture. "This is her." 

            At the mention of the name 'Rin' Kagome broke into a smile. "Sango and I saved her a few days ago. We were going to return her on the day of the storm, but we were warned beforehand. She's with my mother at the moment." 

            Miroku turned to Inu-Yasha, and huge grins split on their faces. "We're going to be rich!" they chorused, high-fiving. The two mermaids raised their eyebrows. 

            "To continue the story, we got the information about the girl and went on a ship. We smelled the storm before it came, and tried to convince the captain to go back, but he refused. So the storm came, Inu-Yasha flew off the boat—" ("For crying out loud, Miroku!") "and I tried to save him, but even dazzlingly handsome heroes grow tired sometimes." Miroku puffed out his chest, and Inu-Yasha saw it as an inviting punching bag and complied. "OUCH! Inu-Yasha's just jealous. Ow! Quit it! Anyway that's where you guys come in." 

            Kagome took a sip of altea and put her cup down on the table. "Right, then. Sango and I are part of the rescuers, which is a name for a group of merpeople who rescue humans. During storms, or if we get notice that a ship is sinking, we go out and try to save as many humans as possible. We take them underwater, breathe into them like we did to you guys, and bring them to shore. The only reason why we brought you here is because Sango and I had been swimming all day, and we were tired." 

            Miroku raised his eyebrow. "The _only reason?" he asked flirtatiously, looking at Sango. _

            Sango was calmly drinking her altea. "If you think I was madly enchanted by your good looks, think again. You resembled a half-drowned slug when I got to you." 

            "That's one thing I don't want to see," Inu-Yasha commented, sipping from his cup. "So much for your dazzlingly handsome hero story." 

            As Miroku wailed about God making him the butt of all jokes, Kagome continued for Inu-Yasha. "We're going to bring you and Rin back to the shore tonight, when the humans are asleep." 

            Miroku stopped wailing. "Wait, we can't go just yet!" he objected. "Inu-Yasha, we're in the _merworld." _

            Even though it sounded far-fetched and unbelievable, Inu-Yasha wanted to stay too. There was nothing to do up in Houshi, except collect the money from Lord Sesshoumaru when they presented Rin. There was no adventure, unless you counted the more drastic rejections Miroku received. The merworld was an entirely different universe. Being the son and best friend of daring seamen, the adventurer inside him was itching to get out. Inu-Yasha nodded firmly. 

            "But you guys can't stay here!" Sango cried, but though she would never say it out loud, she was wishing otherwise "You aren't even allowed here, really. Kagome and I had to obtain special permission from the king." 

            "The king can be very stern," Kagome agreed quietly. The truth was, she wanted them to stay too. Everyone called her fascination with humans unhealthy except for Sango. She wanted to know things about land life, things about…Inu-Yasha. He intrigued her, since he kept his personality hidden (Miroku's was pretty obvious from a mile away). Who was Inu-Yasha, and what was his life like? Did he have a family, friends…a girlfriend? 

            She shook her head vehemently. She wasn't going to let them swim away just like that! "Sango, we can ask the king for an extended stay," she suggested. "Come on, they can tell us all about human life! You know how much I wanted to learn!" 

            Sango looked uncertain, but she just raised her shoulders helplessly. "If you can get the king's permission, that'd be great," she said. "I'll go look for Rin." 

            "I'll go with you," Miroku said. "That girl is worth a chest of gold!" Sighing, Sango swam out of the room, Miroku close at her heels. 

            Kagome sat there awkwardly, twiddling her thumbs. Then she grabbed her altea cup and downed it, not knowing anything else to do. 

            "Hey, I'm sorry for acting the way I did," Inu-Yasha muttered. Kagome's hand froze, the cup over her face. "I didn't mean those rude things I said." 

            Kagome set the shell cup on the table. "And I'm sorry I almost let you die," she said with a half-smile. After a few minutes of awkward silence, she asked, "So, do you want to come to the palace with me? You know, so you can sort of convince the king?" 

            He nodded his agreement. Kagome smiled, a full one this time.  

*          *          *

            "You're a really strong swimmer," Kagome commented as they swam in the ocean. 

            "Yeah, well, I've spent most of my life at sea," Inu-Yasha shrugged. "So what's the merworld like? Is it like a city or something?" 

            Kagome dove under a natural arch of stone. "Yes, it's a city of stone and coral and light, though the light doesn't come from the sun. It's from our own power source. The merworld is more advanced than you might think, being immortal and all." 

            "Hm…" Inu-Yasha followed her under the arch. He could see the peaks of some of the buildings of the mercity, but he didn't have a view of the whole thing. He was about to ask another question when a chattering sort of noise interrupted him. It was various sounds of clicks and chitters, and Inu-Yasha knew only one animal who made those noises. "Dolphins? What are dolphins doing so deep underwater?" 

            The look on Kagome's face was ecstatic when she saw the two silver creatures swimming nearby. "They aren't normal dolphins, they were given the permanent breath of life and stay in the merworld. I've come to know two of them really closely. That one's Sharksbane because he loves terrorizing sharks, and the other one's Shoopuf." The two dolphins clicked and squealed at the sound of their names. 

            "Shoopuf?" Inu-Yasha repeated doubtfully, but then another part of Kagome's words came to him. "What do you mean, the permanent breath of life?" 

            The mermaid's hand froze just before it petted one of the dolphin's head. "Only a princess can do that," she said, her voice suddenly cold. "It's the power that comes with her ranking, but it's very rarely used, like once a century. I think only one human in all of history has ever received it." 

            Inu-Yasha would have pressed on, but the stony expression that suddenly appeared on Kagome's face told him not to. "Uhm, so anyway what do the dolphins do?"

            "Well, they play around, sometimes give us a ride…" Suddenly the sullen look lifted from her face and Kagome was smiling again. "I bet they'll give us a ride to the castle! Right, Shoopuf?" 

            The dolphin squealed, her head bobbing in the water. Kagome grinned and turned to Inu-Yasha. "You can get Sharksbane, if he doesn't eat you first." 

            Inu-Yasha grimaced. He remembered five years ago, Miroku and their fathers had spotted some dolphins. They thought it would be interesting if they tied Inu-Yasha to a playful dolphin's back while he was innocently sleeping on _Olympia__. The ordeal ended with a livid Inu-Yasha sandwiching a yelling Miroku in between two dolphins while they played in the water (ouch), and tying his and Miroku's fathers onto thick pieces of rope and dangling them off the side of __Olympia__ like bait in shark-infested waters. Apparently Inu-Yasha hadn't seen the humor in the prank. _

            Kagome grinned slyly as she climbed on Shoopuf's back, her tail dangling on one side. "Oh come on, scared?" she teased. 

            His head jerked up. "What? I am _not scared!" Impulsively he swung himself over Sharksbane, who immediately somersaulted in the water. Inu-Yasha had to grab his dorsal fin to stay on the dolphin._

            Stroking Shoopuf, Kagome cooed, "Won't you take us to the palace?" Then she whispered something in the dolphin's ear, which she understood. Inu-Yasha didn't hear it. Shoopuf bobbed her head eagerly. 

            _I don't like that glint in her eyes. Inu-Yasha gulped when he saw the sly grin on her face grow to mammoth size._

            "Let's _race!" Kagome shouted, and Inu-Yasha yelped as Sharksbane streaked through the water with no regard for his rider whatsoever. Kagome's laugh followed close behind as he clutched the dolphin's dorsal fin, wondering if it would be indecent to tie a mermaid in between two dolphins when they felt like jumping around. _

*          *          *

            Sango rolled her eyes as the human boy flirted with two mermaids on the street. They were giggling coquettishly at everything he said. _Honestly, he's wasting so much time! Doesn't he think of anything other than girls? _

            "There's no woman on land with hair as golden as yours, even if they washed their hair in gold," Miroku said smoothly, gesturing to the fair-haired one. She blushed furiously. "And you," Miroku added, turning to the red-haired one, "Why, the sunset couldn't possibly compete with your fire!" 

            Impatiently, Sango snapped, "Come _on, Miroku, do you want to see Rin or not?" _

            "In a minute." 

            "_Now." Sango grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him after her. The mermaids scowled and began yelling complaints in her direction. _

            Miroku waved as he was dragged away, shouting, "Look for me, okay? I'm not hard to find, I'm 50 % of the population with legs in this city!" They giggled and blew him kisses before swimming off. 

            "Honestly, does Inu-Yasha have to put up with you every day?" Sango grumbled.

            "Hey, he's okay with it!" Miroku protested. "Without me his life would be a bore."

            She sighed and let go of his collar, and he continued to swim beside her. "Is that why his hair is prematurely gray?" 

            "What? It's naturally silver! Trust me, girls go gaga over his hair like fleas on a dog," Miroku boasted for Inu-Yasha. "I'd cut his hair off to make a wig for myself, but though he won't admit it, he's really vain." 

            Sango shrugged. "Whatever." Kagome's mother was out shopping, and she had probably taken Rin with her too. She continued to scan the streets for a sign of the little girl. "Oh, and you're actually 33 % of the population with legs, including Rin," she added distractedly, looking past Miroku. 

            "Well, we can always catch her later," Miroku said. Then, though Sango didn't know it was even possible, he looked serious. Actually, he looked excited, but serious all the same. "Sango, I've always wondered about mermaids and how they live. Can't going back wait? Besides, you owe me a tour." 

            Sango looked affronted. "Why do I owe you a tour?" 

            Miroku looked shocked at the fact that she could even question such a thing and pointed to his lips. "You entered a sacred area, woman! Such a gift is not bestowed freely among the common, especially one every hour." 

            "Oh please," Sango scoffed. "You'd kiss a sea slug if it smiled at you." 

            The brown-haired boy just grinned. "Fine then. If you'll excuse me, I'll look for those two mermaids who _don't mind my company." _

            _What? Aside from him being her responsibility, she didn't want him to wreak havoc upon the female population of the merworld. Besides, wasn't he grateful that she'd saved him? "Fine then! I'll take you on your dumb tour! But you have to promise to keep your hands to yourself, and no flirting with the mermaids." _

            He was laughing as Sango swam again of him, the furious strokes of her tail causing a flurry of bubbles. "I knew you were jealous, Sango." 

            "I'm not jealous." 

            "Then stop blushing." 

            "I'm not blushing." 

            "Why don't you smile a bit? You're always so grumpy."

            "I'm going to kill you." 

            "So long as you smile." 

*          *          *

            Racing through the ocean, it didn't take them long to reach the merworld. Inu-Yasha almost forgot to hold on when he saw the city, and as a result nearly got his head chopped off by a low arch. 

            "Wow," he breathed, as the dolphins neared a cliff. Down the cliff was the merworld. It was a sparkling city of lights, with tall buildings of stone and coral and silver sprawled as far as his eye could see. Everywhere he could see the glints of mermaids' tails as they streamed in and out of buildings. Huge spirals topped each building, made of a delicate shell that glistened in the city lights. Even from their position above the city, he could hear traces of music, laughter, and song. 

            Kagome soon caught up with him, laughing as she made Shoopuf stop. "Okay, so I admit you won, but that's only because you got dolphin with hormones." Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes bright, and the brilliance of her smile made Inu-Yasha look twice. 

            The mermaid pointed to a large structure which looked like a land castle, only grander. "That's the palace where the king and the princess live. The queen died about a year ago, so her daughter's been doing most of the work in her steed." Again, that note of bitterness. Inu-Yasha wondered if she had some sort of grudge against the princess. 

            "Onward," Kagome said. Obediently the dolphins zoomed down towards the underwater city. Inu-Yasha, with a leg on each side of the dolphin and sitting just behind the dorsal fin and going straight, found himself in a very uncomfortable position for a few seconds. The dolphins finally leveled out and he sighed in relief. Kagome giggled. 

            As the dolphins cruised through the city, Inu-Yasha found several merpeople staring at him. Feeling just as amazed, he stared back. The mermen were tall broad and muscular, at least the mermen on the street were. Several merchildren giggled as they tried to match the speed of the dolphins. Whispers erupted about the human boy with silver hair. 

            Inu-Yasha was still feeling slightly dazed when they reached the castle. Two guards patrolled the front gates, staring stiffly ahead of them. 

            Kagome dismounted from the dolphin and swam up to one of the guards. She spoke in a quiet tone, gesturing with her hands at Inu-Yasha. The guard told her something, then went through the palace doors. 

            The mermaid turned back to Inu-Yasha. "He said he's going to ask one of the councilors. The councilors can also give permission. It'll be easier if we don't have to go inside, because the king is always busy with court and trials and all that. I've heard the castle is very busy this time. Hopefully they'll feel hassled enough to give permission right now." 

            They waited a while longer, until the guard came back, a piece of paper in his hand. "The chief councilor declares it is permissible for the humans to remain here," he announced. "However, he and the king request an audience a week from now with the mortals to discuss future plans. They must stay here until that time and they are free to get acquainted with the city." 

            Kagome turned to Inu-Yasha, smiling widely. "Wow, I didn't think it would be that easy!" Thanking the guard, she turned away from the castle, Inu-Yasha following her. "I think we should let the dolphins play around," she said, looking down. "Do you, um, do you want to explore the city? Like that guard said, you are 'free to get acquainted with the city'." She paused, as she was trying to make up her mind. Then she laughed and grabbed his hand. "Is that okay?" 

            Inu-Yasha nodded. "Okay." He swam beside Kagome as they headed back the way they came. 

            He stole a glance at her as they moved through the water. Her hair swirled around behind her, revealing her sparkling face. She was a picture of innocence, slightly different from her more aloof friend. Of course, she'd gotten rightfully mad when he'd said all those things, which proved she had a backbone. He'd never met a girl like her; most of the girls in Houshi were more of Miroku's type, aka tarty. Or maybe he just wasn't looking. 

            Though he'd said "okay", there was another reply he didn't have the guts to say: 

            _I'd like to get acquainted with you__, though. _


	3. City of the Immortals

AN: Before I continue I just want to say that Kagome is _not a princess. If she were a princess then I'd have another royal fic, and I think there are enough royal fics floating out there (mine included). All will be revealed if you just hang around, mwa ha ha. And on a note regarding the content of this chapter: Kouga fans, I'm sorry!! ^_^;; It's just that I needed a person who loved Kagome and had a reason to hate Inu-Yasha, and Kouga fit that description. I know he's not evil, but he just has this small appearance (I think) so don't flame me saying how I could have done that to poor Kouga and all—seriously, he's not that bad, though Inu-Yasha's better. Oh, and to the person who asked me what about the name of the village, which was Houshi, well, heh heh *grins* I was considering a lot of names, even __Hanyou, but that would be even stupider. Shikon I'd used, Tokyo I'd used, a lot of things I'd already used. And Houshi sounds cool. Monks rock! (Well, Miroku does.)  Oh yeah, and thanks, demon-heiress, for lifting my spirits with your reviews! We miss you here! Anyway, more action and romance in the next chapter! Enjoy the fic, and reviews always appreciated! ^_^_

In the City of Immortals

            "The palace says they can stay. In fact, they have to stay. The king wants to talk with them in a week," Kagome told Sango when they met in the afternoon. "Rin can also stay until then, since both of them are responsible for bringing her home."

            "Oh yeah, and Rin is out with your mom. They're not in her house, so we'll have to wait till they come back to give her the news," Sango said. 

            Miroku clapped his hands together. "Okay, now that that's settled, what are we going to do?" 

            A sudden rumbling noise answered the question for them. Everyone looked at Inu-Yasha, whose cheeks turned red. "Sorry, that's my stomach. Last time I ate was—what, yesterday noon?" 

            "Actually, I think that should be plural, as in stomachs," Miroku replied. "I'm inclined to believe he has two." 

            As Inu-Yasha grabbed Miroku's head in an elbow lock and Miroku pulled Inu-Yasha's hair, the two mermaids looked at each other. "I guess that decides what we're going to do," Kagome said. 

            "Sure. Oh, how about that noodle place over in the east division?" Sango suggested. 

            At the mention of the word 'noodle' Inu-Yasha's head jerked up, his eyes bright. "Noodles? What are we waiting for then?" Giving his best friend one last whack on the head, which left him seeing stars, he started swimming. "Come on, Miroku, stop slowing us down!"

            "Wait!" Kagome yelled, swimming after him. "You don't even know which way to go!" 

            "It doesn't matter to him!" Miroku said, trying to match the pace of his food-driven friend. "He has like an inner radar that'll take him to the food. Hey, Inu-Yasha, wait up!" Kicking furiously, he grabbed the sleeve of Inu-Yasha's shirt, which didn't hinder the other boy at all. 

            Sango and Kagome laughed as they led the way, their graceful fins more effective in water than legs. 

            It wasn't long before they reached a restaurant, a sign called Shark Shack placed on the door. Since it was lunchtime, several merpeople were streaming into the popular restaurant. "Hopefully we can get a table," Kagome said as the four of them joined the flow. 

            Inu-Yasha's stomach grumbled again, much to his chagrin. Sango giggled. "Don't worry; we can just present Inu-Yasha as a Truly Desperate Case." 

            "Finally, a woman who's seen what I've been trying to prove to the world for years," Miroku exclaimed, putting his arm around Sango's shoulders. She flicked it off. 

            "Table for four," Kagome told the waiter standing near the front of the restaurant. 

It took awhile, but finally they were shown to a nice table on the third floor on the balcony, the mer-city under them. They chatted for a few minutes until a waitress came to give them menus. Miroku looked up and saw the waitress, and a small grin spread on his face. 

Inu-Yasha rolled his eyes as he opened his menu. "Oh, come on, Miroku, it's not necessary here." 

            "It's become a habit," Miroku replied distractedly, still eyeing the waitress. She smiled as she opened his menu for him. 

            "What's become a habit?" Kagome wanted to know. 

            "Well, see, back on land, Miroku and I aren't really that rich. We don't have a lot of money. Okay, we don't have any money. Our fathers disappeared with our ship, _Olympia__. They were probably caught up in a storm. Anyway, to eat, we rely on this eat-flirt-run method," Inu-Yasha explained without looking up from the menu. _

            Miroku sighed melodramatically. "Yes, he eats, I flirt, we both run. It's amazing I'm still alive." 

            Sango frowned as she ran her finger down the menu. "So you guys charm your way out of paying?" Her tone sounded disapproving. 

            "Hey, it's not bad or anything. Besides, the old hag who owns the restaurant is secretly in love with us, but she knows we're grossed out by her wrinkly face and unnaturally large bosom," Inu-Yasha defended. 

            Miroku snorted. "Unnaturally large? Inu-Yasha, if she removed her breast band, the weight of her chest would pull all the wrinkles right out of her face!" 

            As he and Inu-Yasha guffawed, the two mermaids sighed, though it was an I'm-stuck-with-this? sigh. Kagome closed her menu and asked, "Is it hard to flirt? I've never done it before." 

            "She didn't need to," Sango grumbled, though it was good-natured. "She attracted mermen from way across the ocean."

            "Aww, it's okay, Sango," Miroku said comfortingly, reaching across the table to take her hand. "_I like you." _

            Sango narrowed her eyes, which clearly said don't touch me. Miroku sighed and the waitress came back, ready to take their orders. "Have you guys decided what to order yet?" she asked with a sideways glance at Miroku. 

            Miroku looked at his menu. "Um, yeah, how about the sea cucumber salad with salmon, and a large, delicious portion of _you," he said, grinning wolfishly. Kagome, Sango, and Inu-Yasha groaned and hid their heads behind their menus. _

            "Is he always this bad?" Sango hissed to Inu-Yasha, who was sitting beside her. 

            "Yeah, and they always fall for it," Inu-Yasha hissed back. "The only time he got rejected, aside from when asking people to sleep with him, was right after our fathers disappeared and he said to this girl, 'If you were a booger, I'd pick you first.'"

            "Is that flirting? That's gross!" Kagome commented, who was sitting beside Sango. "Let's just order quickly and eat as fast as we can. Inu-Yasha, have you picked something out?" 

            Inu-Yasha shrugged. "You've been here before, you know what's good. Any recommendations?" 

            Kagome frowned thoughtfully. She kept in mind that Inu-Yasha would want something with noodles in it, so she eliminated the dishes that didn't have them. Finally she suggested, "What about the octopus platter with thick noodles, sided with shrimp?" 

            "Sounds okay to me," he replied. Sango nodded in agreement. Inu-Yasha turned to Miroku as the waitress blushed furiously at what he said. "What about you, Miroku?" 

            "I know. How about a brain with a side order of maturity?" Sango replied for him. "Oh wait, will all of that fit into his head? It looks big, but we know it's all bone." 

            Miroku was about to argue about the space in his head when someone sneered, "Well, well, two humans with my woman? Is there something you're not telling me about, Kagome?" 

            Kagome froze at the voice behind her. A merman, surrounded by his friends, had his arms crossed and was staring down her. He had black hair that was tied in a short ponytail. Inu-Yasha could practically hear Kagome stiffen. "Go away, Kouga," she said coldly. 

            Kouga laughed, and as if on cue, his friends laughed with him. "Don't talk like that to me, woman," he said. "It's only because of me that you can still swim in the streets safe. Even after what you did to me…"

            She rose from her chair, her face red. "I didn't do anything to you," she snapped. "In fact, it's only because of _me that you still swim in the streets, period! I should have let them take you away to the prison." _

            "Maybe you should've," Kouga said, a sneer on his face. "But you didn't. That means you're still mine." 

            "Oh please," Inu-Yasha snorted. "Like that's going to get you a woman." 

            Kouga stopped, and looked at the human, contempt on his face. "Who is this?" he asked frigidly. "Some riffraff you found in the ocean and took pity on?"

            Kagome glared at him. "The only riffraff around here is you," she said. "It's none of your business; now leave before I call the guards." Inu-Yasha, however, wasn't too happy with what Kouga called him. Kouga and his friends looked at each other, but they made no action to leave.

            Inu-Yasha stood up. "Stop harassing her. She said leave, so leave now." 

            "Oh? And who are you to tell me to leave, stupid mortal?" Kouga smirked. "Ah, wait—don't tell me you and my woman…" his face suddenly darkened in anger. "You better not be seeing Kagome!"

            By now most of the restaurant floor was staring at them. The waitress of their table swam off, perhaps to call the guards. 

            "So what if he is?" Kagome said defiantly. 

            "Yeah—what?" Inu-Yasha looked dumbfounded at what she'd just said. 

            Suddenly Kagome went up to Inu-Yasha, tilted his head towards hers, and lifted her lips to his. To the others, it looked like they were kissing, but in reality the hour was up and she was giving him the breath of life. 

            It worked, though. Kouga looked furious. "Nobody touches Kagome, you hear, human boy?" he snarled. "If I see you with my woman again, I'll rip you apart!" 

            Inu-Yasha's looked dazed for a moment after Kagome moved back, but he had a stony expression on his face when he looked at Kouga. "I'd like to see you try," he said in a low voice. 

            They glared at each other. Two muscular guards approached the table. "All right, leave this area now before we place you under arrest," one of them told Kouga. "We've had enough of your troublemaking here." 

            Giving Inu-Yasha one last scornful glare, Kouga swam out of the restaurant, his pack following him like puppets. Kagome watched until they disappeared from sight, then slumped back in her seat, sighing.            

            "Who was that?" Miroku wondered. 

            Sango looked at Kagome, who was staring down at her lap. "That was Kouga of the Wolf Clan," she said. "That's what they call themselves. They're a group of bullies who hang around the streets. They're not very nice, but they haven't been caught breaking the law yet." 

            "And you went _out with that guy?" Inu-Yasha demanded. _

            Kagome looked up, scowling. "It's none of your business," she said shortly. "Just because I said we were seeing each other it doesn't mean it was true. It doesn't give you access to my private life."

            There was an embarrassed silence. Inu-Yasha looked at Sango, confusion written in his eyes, but she silenced him with a look of her own. Even Miroku stared down at his plate until the food came. Thankfully it wasn't long before the waitress came back, holding steaming platters of noodles and octopus. "Enjoy," she said, giving Miroku an extra smile before sauntering off. 

            Inu-Yasha picked up a fork and stabbed at his food. "It's…green," he said doubtfully, lifting a few strands and letting them splat back onto his plate. 

            "Of course," Sango said. "Seaweed noodles. The kind that goes with everything." Inu-Yasha took an experimental bite. His expression brightened, and he began shoveling food into his mouth. 

            "Help, my octopus just moved!" Miroku howled, pushing himself out of the chair. Grabbing a knife, he began stabbing one of the octopus' arms repeatedly as it wiggled slowly in the water. "This is so gross! _Aaaagh, it winked at me!" _

            Sango got up and stopped him from completely demolishing his food. "Miroku, they don't cook it completely so it still retains its flavor! I assure you, that octopus isn't alive enough to harm you." 

            Inu-Yasha's head snapped up. Half of an octopus arm was dangling helplessly from his mouth as his face froze in horror. "Zhey'r _urive?" he asked with his mouth full, eyes widened in alarm. Then he spat out his food on his plate and yelled bloody murder. _

            It took awhile for Sango to calm them down, saying they didn't have to eat the octopus if they didn't want to. The said food was quickly removed from the premises, and Inu-Yasha and Miroku were content to eat plain seaweed noodles. 

            The silver-haired boy turned to Kagome, who still hadn't touched her food. Leaning over to her side, he asked gently, "Aren't you going to eat?" 

            Kagome smiled wanly. "Yeah. Soon." 

            "…You know, you were right. It wasn't any of my business," Inu-Yasha said softly. In the background, Miroku demanded Sango to give him his knife back, while she said responded with "over my dead body, you might kill someone". "I'm not going to ask about Kouga again. But please eat?" 

            A faint blush crossed her cheeks. The only time someone regarded her with such tenderness was when she was sick and didn't want to eat her food. Kagome picked up her fork and stuck it into her food. He smiled approvingly. Usually his expression was distant, and he hadn't really smiled the first time he'd opened his eyes. Kagome decided that she liked his smile, and if that meant she had to eat, then so be it. Smiling back, she tried to push Kouga out of her mind and ate her food. 

*          *          *

            They had decided to split after lunch. Sango would keep an eye on Miroku ("Actually, you're secretly in love with me, right, Sango?") while Kagome would take Inu-Yasha sightseeing ("Heh, heh, sightseeing…ouch! Inu-Yasha, it was a joke!"). The two parted ways after Sango, with utmost reluctance, gave Miroku the mermaid's kiss of life.  

            "Let's see, north is where the lords and ladies are, and they're really snobby. There's not much fun there. We can go shopping, but all they have is make-up and hair ornaments," Kagome said, letting the current of the ocean float her. Inu-Yasha did the same. "Or we could visit the great library..."

            In the end, they just decided to swim around the city. As they drifted down the street, Kagome suddenly looked down. "I think I should tell you about Kouga," she began, "Before you hear it from somebody else." 

            Inu-Yasha waved a hand. "Oh, you don't really have to—"

            "It's better if I tell you. Besides, if Kouga sees us again, and you have no clue about what's going on, he's going to be suspicious." Kagome smiled slightly. "You know, a few years ago we found a book from a sunken ship. The librarians preserved it, so it wouldn't rot. In it was a fairy tale about a dragon that ravaged the city unless a maiden was sacrificed to him."

            "Oh yeah, I know that story," Inu-Yasha said. It was one of the few he knew, since his head was filled with stories about brave seafarers, not children's fairytales. He'd come across it once. 

            "Well, Kouga was—he was really wild. The east division had permanent guards stationed in its streets, because the Wolf Clan was always up to some sort of mischief. He—" Kagome blushed, and cleared her throat. "He made it pretty clear that he had a liking for me." 

            Her companion nodded. "So the city sacrificed you to him." 

            "Sort of like that. I hope you don't think I went out with him because I liked him, because that wasn't it. I went willingly because I thought I could change him. You know, if the princess can establish peace in the kingdom, then I thought I could do my part in establishing peace too." Again, the princess reference. Inu-Yasha was beginning to wonder if Kagome was the princess in disguise, but then that couldn't be. She would have given him the permanent breath of life. But if she were trying to keep it a disguise…but she wasn't the princess. Her last sentence just proved it, she had compared herself to the princess.

            "I guess I can say I changed him a little," Kagome said softly. "But he began trying to change me into someone more like him, so I broke it off. He isn't as unruly as before, and even though he yelled at me in the restaurant, I believe he cares for me a little. You'd better watch your back. Kouga's changed, but he can still be dangerous."

            Inu-Yasha found himself sighing with relief. So she _hadn't been attracted to Kouga! A beautiful girl like her attracted to a smarmy ass like him—_

            Did he just say beautiful? Well, she was. She was smart, too. She had the makings of a princess, but her accent would have given her away if she were a real one. But it didn't matter if she was a princess or not—she was Kagome. 

            He was pulled from his musing when Kagome uttered a strangled yelp—and when he looked in her direction, she was gone. Only a few bubbles remained in the place where she'd stood. Alarm growing in him, he shouted, "Kagome!" and scanned the street. On his right he noticed an alley, empty, but bubbles were rising up from there, which proved someone was recently there. He swam furiously into the alley and was quickly shoved against the wall, a bone as sharp as a knife pressed against his throat. 

*          *          *

            "I bet Inu-Yasha and Kagome are having the time of their lives," Miroku said, putting a book back on the shelf and taking out another one. He'd wanted to visit the library, and was amazed at the large collection of books. "How do you guys keep the books from rotting?" 

            Sango was sitting on a chair, flipping through a book. "The librarians preserve it using our power source," she replied. All of a sudden she slammed the book shut. "Aargh, I still can't believe Kouga made that scene!" she cried. "I told Kagome not to get tangled up with him, but no…"

            "What happened with Kagome and Kouga, anyway?" Miroku asked. "Were they lovers?" 

            The mermaid bristled. "Kouga was a jerk, and Kagome thought she could de-jerk him. She couldn't, so she left him. He's been after her ever since. He might even be after Inu-Yasha too, since Kagome made it appear like she was kissing him. Kouga's quite jealous." Sango frowned thoughtfully. "Since then she hasn't been interested in mermen…she says men always play with your heart. I don't know what Kouga did to make her think that." 

            Miroku shook his head. "Hmm, maybe we can change her mind about that. Not all men are bad. We don't always play around with women." 

            "Ooh, and aren't you the poster boy," Sango snorted. "Do you really think _you could change her mind?"_

            He sat on the chair beside her and looked into her eyes, his brown ones glistening with excitement. Sango's breath tightened. _It's just because he's too close, she told herself. _

            "No—but Inu-Yasha can," Miroku suggested, a small smile playing on his lips. 

            She raised her eyebrow. "Are you suggesting Inu-Yasha and Kagome get together?" 

            Miroku shrugged. "Why not? He's never paid much attention to love—unless you count ramen, but that's off-topic. He's never had a lover before, so he's far from being corrupted. He doesn't think of women as toys. In fact, he's too gentlemanly for his own good." 

            "You can stop trying to advertise him," Sango said, sighing heavily. "A relationship between a human and a mermaid is forbidden." 

            "What?" Miroku looked aghast. "Why?" 

            She swallowed. "Because it just is. Look, Kagome and I are immortal. A relationship would just cause sadness, because Inu-Yasha will grow old and die, and she will live on."

            "Come on," he persisted. "Why don't we play matchmaker? I bet if we put them together, you know, love will conquer all." 

            Sango rolled her eyes. "You're ridiculous, you know that?" 

            "I know, but I'm a cute kind of ridiculous, right?" Miroku said, grinning up at her. 

            "Sure. The kind of ridiculous that freaks out over an octopus." 

            "For crying out loud, it _winked at me. It was supposed to be dead." _

            "It must have been a female, then, if it winked at you. Pity, isn't it? You killed off your only admirer." 

            "What? I have plenty of admirers." 

            "Of course. You reel them in with your charming, entrancing lines like, 'If you were a booger, I'd pick you first.'" 

            "Did Inu-Yasha tell you about that?!" 

            "Doesn't it bother you that we always end our conversations like this?" 

_*          *          *_

            "Hah! I knew it! You were all talk and no action!" Kouga sneered, pressing the white bone against Inu-Yasha's skin. "Didn't I tell you not to be seen with Kagome?" 

            Kagome was struggling against the grip of two of Kouga's friends. "Stop it, Kouga. Let me go _now," she demanded, glaring at Kouga. _

            Kouga snorted. "When we were together you wanted lots of things, Kagome. I gave them all to you, I did it all for you, but apparently it wasn't enough. So maybe it's time to try a different approach. Maybe it's time for me to do what I want."

            Inu-Yasha's arm gripped Kouga's wrist, preventing the bone from sinking into his neck. "Are you done with your rejected lover speech?" he asked Kouga. When the leader of the Wolf Clan turned to him, he said, "Good, because now I can do this." He shoved his knee into Kouga's stomach and as the merman keeled over, Inu-Yasha brought his knee up to smash Kouga's nose. 

            The two thugs holding Kagome immediately released her to tend to their boss. Kagome rushed over to Inu-Yasha. "Are you all right?" he asked her. She nodded, and then slowly touched the red mark on Inu-Yasha's neck where the bone knife had lain. "It's okay, that one will heal. Let's get out of here." 

            As they prepared to leave, Kouga grabbed the back of Inu-Yasha's shirt, one hand holding his broken nose. "Not so fast," he said thickly. "You're in my territory now, and you can't leave." 

            "There are some of his men guarding the exit to this alley," Kagome said in a low voice. "He's going to make you fight." 

            "Fight, huh?" Inu-Yasha glared at Kouga with a challenging glint in his amber eyes. "Fine, but if he thinks I'll be the one to lose…" 

            "Inu-Yasha, he has a knife," Kagome warned. "Be careful." 

            _So, it's come down to a fight for the fair maiden, Inu-Yasha thought with a smirk as he faced Kouga. __At least I have legs…if I can get that knife from him, there isn't that much he can do except slap my face with his tail. The comic image that followed made him laugh. _

            "Ah, a man who faces death with laughter!" Kouga said with a grin, brandishing his bone knife. "I always knew humans were stupid." And he charged towards Inu-Yasha. 

            Kicking furiously, the human swam up to meet the immortal. They had an encounter for a brief second. Kagome quickly scanned Inu-Yasha's body, looking for the red trickle of blood that Kouga's knife must have drawn. She went limp with relief when she found none. 

            In Inu-Yasha's hands was Kouga's knife. The merman stared at his hands, shocked that a mortal could have swiped it that easily. Inu-Yasha held it up. "Now it's my turn," he said, and shot towards Kouga. Snarling, Kouga swam towards him for the second encounter. 

            It happened in a flash. They crossed each other, hair flying behind them as they dealt their quick attacks. Then Inu-Yasha smiled. "Do you know what I've learned from all this, wolf boy?" 

            "What, human?" Kouga snapped harshly. 

            "That mermaid blood is silver." 

Kouga looked down, and indeed silver blood streamed from a wound in his stomach, caused by his very own knife. Then the pain hit him and he doubled over, placing his hands over the wound. He made a strangled cry as his face twisted in pain.

            Inu-Yasha tossed the knife in the air and caught it again. "Now tell your dimwit friends to move, or I'll make a nice carving to place in my room." Shooting Inu-Yasha a glowering stare, Kouga flicked his hand at the mermen standing in front of the entrance to the alleyway. They parted. 

            The human boy pocketed the knife and took Kagome's hand. She looked down at their entwined hands, startled and a little bit nervous. "You won't go after Kagome again," he said simply, yet the message was clear. "You know what'll happen if you do. Let's go." He led Kagome out of the alley. She couldn't help looking back at Kouga before entering the streets of the city. 

            "I think attacking a mermaid counts as breaking the law," Inu-Yasha said conversationally as they broke into open space again. "You might want to call a guard to clear up the mess." 

            Kagome was still shocked at how easily he beat Kouga. "You were—Inu-Yasha, that was amazing, that—"

            He blushed. "I don't like it when guys act that way, thinking they own women," he said, scuffing his toe into the sand. 

            Kagome snapped up. _That was exactly what I thought, she said, amazed. Finding a guard swimming down the street, she stopped him, told her story, and directed him to the alley where Kouga had abducted her. She stole a glance at Inu-Yasha. He was watching the guard, making sure that he took care of the Wolf Clan. _

            Even though he would probably say otherwise, it came down to the fact that he'd risked himself for her. She felt herself going red. And this was the same boy who'd yelled at her during his first hours in the merworld, the look in his eyes so obviously repulsed. 

            Kagome found herself wondering about the boy with the golden eyes, wondering about how many secrets he still kept inside of him, and wondering whether he would let her see them during his stay under the surface.             

            Wondering if she could tell him her own secrets…


	4. Night and the Miasma

AN: Big one here. First, I found out there was another mermaid story that appeared a month before mine by **Goddess of Death_._ I swear I didn't know about it, and the titles _are _coincidental. I hope you don't think I copied her, because our stories are really different (and it's so cool—_Inu-Yasha's _a merman) Anyway, it turns out I've made some things a bit blurry. Okay, very blurry. I'll answer your questions either in the chapter or here. ****Sunfreak, I read all the things you mentioned, and I'd written the chapter so fast I hadn't stopped to think about the strength differences. *sheepish grin* I'll have to think of an excuse for that. And that comment about everyone moving around in three-dimensions, I'm dumb on that *puts on dunce cap* But about that flying thing, well, I'm going to blame it on the merworld power source (it's a _great scapegoat!). I'll try not to make them walk, though it __is possible (Inu-Yasha in Chapter 2). As for **aia22ra**'s comment on the food, eewwww! If that happened, the ocean would be filled with gross unmentionables! But I see your point. Uhm, just think of it as the Little Mermaid, where the food stays on the plates, and when Inu-Yasha spits out his food, it lands where it's supposed to. ^_^ **Demon-heiress**' (and a lot of others') question on what Kagome's secrets are, the answer is…read the next chapters and find out, mwa ha ha! Oh yes, the "perfect breasts" remark comes from The Princess Bride. *Reads the chapter* I just noticed that I make fun of myself here…interesting…oh! And this chapter is for the people who wanted more S/M since I have yet to fulfill that…I know Naraku isn't really fair, but he's still mean here, so it counts somewhat. _**

Night and the Miasma

"No kidding, Inu-Yasha beat Kouga?" Sango asked with some surprise. "Well, he always did have his thugs fight for him…"

It was the end of the day, and the four of them had met up again in front of the library. Inu-Yasha looked around, and it seemed like the sea had darkened somewhat. He could've thought it was night, but there wasn't any way to make sure. 

"Well, you know what they say," Miroku said brightly, clapping a hand on Inu-Yasha's shoulder. "Love conquers all." 

Inu-Yasha rolled his eyes. "Actually it was more of a 'Don't touch me, I'll kill you' feeling. Sorry to break your romantic spirit." 

"Anyway, before you guys start fighting again, we should be getting home," Kagome said. "I'm sure my mother is back, she usually comes home at around nighttime." 

"Huh? How do you know it's nighttime?" Miroku asked. "The sea is already pretty dark, aside from the merworld lights." 

"When there are shipwrecks, a group of us salvage a lot of human stuff. There are often a ton of watches or clocks on board, and the goldsmiths revive it with the power source. Also, you can feel the currents, how they rise toward the moon," Sango replied. 

Miroku whistled. "That's impressive." 

"It's one of the few things we can explain," Kagome shrugged, swimming ahead. The rest of them followed her. 

They were greeted by a small human child zipping around the mermaid home, her black hair swirling behind her. She was wearing a pink dress that looked so fancy Inu-Yasha had to step on Miroku's tingling fingers. When she caught sight of Kagome, the child's face burst into a grin. "Kagome! Sango! You're home!" she shouted, swimming towards them with the speed of a harpoon. 

"Rin! Did you have a good time?" Kagome smiled, folding the little girl in her arms to absorb some of the crash. "Where's Mother?" 

"She's making dinner." Rin's eyes traveled past the two mermaids to their two mortal companions. "Hey, you guys must be human," she said, pointing at their legs. 

Miroku nodded. "Uh huh. And you must be worth a chest of gold," he replied eagerly. "Pleased—really, I am—to see you." Inu-Yasha slapped a palm to his face. 

"They were sent to look for you, Rin-chan," Sango explained, shooting Miroku a dirty look. "Your father's really getting worried."

Rin looked happy. "Does that mean I can go home now?"

"Well, the king wants you to stay just a few more days. I'm sure all he wants to do is ask a few questions about life on the surface. Curiosity about mortals really seems to run in the family, eh?" Sango asked slyly with a sideways look at Kagome.

She scowled. "Oh come on, Sango, that wasn't even funny." 

Sango turned to Inu-Yasha and Miroku. "It is if you get it. Which…" she added as Kagome glowered, "…is never going to happen if you still want to live. Uhm, shall we greet your mother, Kagome?" 

"What was up with that?" Miroku wondered as they followed the girls into Kagome's home. 

Inu-Yasha shrugged. "Beats me. Maybe it has something to do with the power source."

A woman with brown hair and a warm smile was stirring something in a pan as she emerged from the kitchen. "Welcome back, Kagome, Sango, I was wondering when you'd get home." Her eyes fell on the two humans and she nearly dropped the pan. "Oh my god, it can't be…" she whispered, looking at Miroku. "Is it really you?" 

            Inu-Yasha looked at his friend, confused. "Have you been here before?" 

            "What do you think, Inu-Yasha?" Miroku hissed under his breath. "I don't know what she's talking about. Maybe she's looking at you?" 

            "She's definitely looking at you! Maybe you're like her grandfather reincarnated into a human body and that's why she recognizes you and that's why you've got a strange fascination with mermaids." Inu-Yasha nodded thoughtfully as he peered at Miroku. "That seems to be the only explanation."

            Just then Kagome's mother shook her head violently. Then a cheerful smile spread on her face. "Why—you're mortal! You have legs!" She sounded fascinated. Giving the pan to Kagome, she swam up to them and stared at their legs curiously. "How interesting…can I touch them?" 

"What?" they yelped, blushing furiously. 

"Mother!" Kagome shouted, her cheeks red. "You don't just ask humans if you can feel their legs. That's like them touching our tails." 

"Oh! Oh that's right, I forgo—I mean, my daughter knows more about things like that than I do." Kagome's mother said, biting her lip. "I don't suppose Kagome and Sango rescued you two from a storm?" 

Miroku smiled charmingly. "As a matter of fact, madam, that is correct. Sango couldn't keep her hands off me." Sango bristled.

            Kagome's mother still stared at him. "You remind me of someone," she said. "I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable." Miroku waved it off. As if to divert attention from herself, Kagome's mother smiled at Sango. "Are you falling in love with a human? You know that's forbidden…but with such a charming young man I don't see how you couldn't." Sango's eyes widened and she looked at Miroku murderously.

As Sango whacked Miroku, Kagome's mother stared suspiciously at her daughter. Kagome waved her hands in protest. "I assure you, that's not what I was thinking when I saved Inu-Yasha!" she cried. 

"Of course, but I'll have you know that they don't mind that whole every one hour kissing thing one bit." Miroku added mischievously. Sango smirked, having inflicted multiple injuries on Miroku's head.  

"It's not kissing!" Kagome and Inu-Yasha shouted simultaneously. 

Inu-Yasha turned to the merwoman. "I'm sorry, but Miroku won't be able to try your dinner. He'll be too busy gluing his teeth back in his mouth," he said with a not-so-apologetic expression on his face. 

Kagome grabbed the collar of Inu-Yasha's shirt. "Before you do that, have some dinner. My mother makes the best food in the neighborhood. No, the dinner does not breathe," she cut in as Inu-Yasha opened his mouth. "But really, it tastes better when it does." 

"I'm going to pretend you never said that." 

Dinner was oysters and seaweed noodles. Without the use of normal utensils, Inu-Yasha and Miroku struggled to get the slimy body from its shell. Once Miroku got so impatient, when he tried to yank it out it flew through the air and landed on Inu-Yasha's head with a splat. Inu-Yasha then picked it up and hurled it at the offending person's face. This later resulted in Miroku trying to strangle Inu-Yasha with a seaweed noodle and the latter trying to suffocate Miroku with two oyster shells. 

Sango and Kagome kept eating as if nothing was happening, and Rin watched the two humans with awed eyes. "Things like this never happen at the mansion," she commented. "All we have are jugglers." 

When dinner was over, they sat around the living room for awhile, chatting about the day. They discussed the king's request, recalled lunch events ("Remember Miroku's '_Ahh, it winked at me!'_? I'll never forget that for as long as I live." "But you'll live forever." "I know. That's how hilarious it was.") their encounter with Kouga, and Kagome's mother's strange behavior. ("Oh, she likes humans too, but I think she was just a bit surprised." "Why'd she look at me, though? I felt like I was supposed to know her or something." "How can you? She's centuries old." "Maybe you remind her of my father…" "Who's your father?" "…" "We don't talk about that, Inu-Yasha.") 

After the silence that followed that Miroku stood up and yawned. "I wonder how late it is above the surface," he said through his yawn. "Just think, Inu-Yasha, we could be in Ramen restaurant by now."

His friend groaned. "Ugh, don't remind me. What I wouldn't give for a bowl of hot noodles." 

"You'd sell your soul for _anything _edible, Inu-Yasha." Miroku turned to the two mermaids. "So how is this going to work out?" 

Sango raised an eyebrow. "How's what going to work out?" 

"Well, if you have to give us breath every hour, and you go to sleep, wouldn't we die or something?" 

"Merpeople sleep, but it's not extremely essential to us. We'll all stay in the same room, and Sango and I will keep track of the time," Kagome explained. "Besides, if we do sleep, we'll wake to the sound of your choking and inability to breathe." 

"That sounds so…comforting." Inu-Yasha muttered. 

Miroku seemed interested in another part of her sentence. "We're all going to stay in the same room?" he asked with a mischievous grin. 

Sango was too fed up to do or say anything about it. 

"He gets hormonal when there aren't any waitresses to flirt around with," Inu-Yasha said with a shrug. "Miroku, maybe you should get some sleep." 

They headed to a large room, next to the one where Inu-Yasha had woken up in. Two low coral beds were next to each other, and there were quite a few sponge couches. Inu-Yasha sat on one bed, stifling a yawn. He'd been through a lot today, and he would have conked out immediately if Miroku hadn't asked a question. 

"Say, do you guys scavenge sunken ships?" Miroku asked suddenly, before sitting on the bed. 

Kagome was sprawled on a sponge couch, eyes closed. "Sometimes, if we come across it. Mostly we rescue people from storms. There is a group of merpeople who explore shipwrecks, though."

"Have they come across a ship called _Olympia__, by any chance?" _

Inu-Yasha kept silent but his ears listened attentively. 

"No, we haven't. But then again we don't explore that often," Kagome said. "Why?" 

"Just wondering." Miroku saw Inu-Yasha gazing at him, and he shrugged. "Really. I'm going to sleep now." 

Inu-Yasha followed Miroku's example and blacked out as soon as his head hit the foamy pillow. 

* * *

The mortals were both sleeping. Sango and Kagome sat across each other on the couches, a mug of altea in their hands. They checked up occasionally on Rin, who slept in Kagome's mother's room. 

"You know, they're a lot less destructive when they're unconscious," Sango remarked. "Maybe we should keep them that way."

Kagome laughed. "If only. Is the hour up?" 

"Almost. But do I really have to?" Sango wheedled. 

Her friend raised her eyebrow. "Don't tell me you don't like supporting the dashing and debonair!" 

"He's not dashing and debonair, he's pitiful and perverted," Sango responded. With a glance at Miroku, who was turned on his side, she added, "But not too bad-looking." She paused, then, "Kagome, I have to tell you—"

She was interrupted by Inu-Yasha flipping sides. Sango froze. She'd been needing to tell Kagome this for some time, but she wasn't going to let anyone else hear it! Kagome also remained still for awhile, watching for Inu-Yasha's amber eyes to open. They relaxed only when Inu-Yasha started snoring lightly, a flurry of bubbles rising from his nose after each snore. 

Kagome turned back to Sango. "What was it you were going to say?" 

"Nothing," Sango muttered. "It wasn't important." 

"It sounded pretty important. And your face is pale," Kagome said, observing her friend. 

Sango waved a hand. "Don't push it." She watched as Kagome glanced at the clock on the wall, then swam towards Inu-Yasha. The mermaid pinched Inu-Yasha's nose shut to stop the stream of bubbles as she quickly breathed life into him. Before he could wake, she let go of his nose and moved back as he muttered something inaudible in his sleep. 

Looking at his sleeping face, without those golden eyes glaring everywhere, and his eyebrows not shaped in a scowl, Kagome couldn't resist. She bent down and kissed him lightly on the forehead. 

"I saw that," Sango said with a grin. 

Kagome shrugged sheepishly. "I couldn't help myself. He looks so adorable when he's asleep, though he'd probably go in a frenzy if I told him that." She gestured towards the brown-haired human. "Are you going to let him die or will I have to do it?" 

Grudgingly Sango got up. Swimming over to Miroku, she tilted his chin up and gave him breath. She was just about to straighten up, she felt his arms snake around her waist and hold her tightly. 

With a quiet yelp, for being in the presence of sleeping people made everyone quieter, she struggled to get out of his vise-like grip. Kagome was clutching her sides, her shoulders shaking with laughter. Sango glared at her supposed friend. "Kagome, help me!" 

"Your smile's so pretty, s'like gold," Miroku mumbled into her hair. "Maybe it can pay for…noodles…" 

"He thinks you're a waitress," Kagome said unhelpfully. 

"I know," Sango grumbled. "I'm going to slap him if he doesn't release me in five seconds." 

Fortunately for Miroku, his arms loosened from her slim waist and she wriggled free. He mumbled, "Don't forget, I'm charming by nature, but I can be a real demon sometimes…" he smirked slyly once then looked as if he'd drifted back into real unconsciousness. 

Sango crossed her arms furiously and fell back on the couch. 

Kagome was still snickering, so she didn't see that Inu-Yasha's eyes were half-open with a misty, sleepy gaze. As her back was turned to him, she also didn't see the faint blush that crossed his cheeks. She didn't know that Inu-Yasha had woken up when she'd pinched his nose, or that he was conscious when she gave him the kiss of life. _So I'm adorable? Huh…_

The other kiss she gave him still burned on his forehead, like warm water and ice at the same time. 

* * *

Miroku woke to the sight of Sango sipping altea and staring out the round window of the stone wall. The bed where Inu-Yasha slept in was empty. He also didn't see Kagome anywhere. That wasn't really a problem. "'Morning," he said, grinning at Sango. 

She looked at him, her expression a mixture of wariness and disgust. Miroku scratched his head in confusion. _What did I do now? _

"Morning," she replied coolly. "Do you know you move around in your sleep?" 

"Huh?" _Oh. Yeah, Inu-Yasha mentioned that to me once. Did I grope her or something? _"Care to tell me what I did, or am I supposed to guess?" 

"I'll just leave that to your imagination," Sango said. "But if you do it again, I'll force-feed you live octopus." 

Miroku's stomach churned, but he forced a carefree grin. "Yum." _Gross. She's so mean. "So what's our agenda today, O Kind and Caring One?" he asked. _

Sango shrugged. "Whatever you want. You can stay here if you like, or visit the mercity some more. We can drift along this neighborhood. Kagome took Inu-Yasha and Rin to this new restaurant they opened." 

"What? Why didn't you guys take me?" Miroku shot out of bed in a flurry of bubbles. 

"Well, firstly you were sleeping sound as a rock. Inu-Yasha kneaded your face like dough and you wouldn't even budge. Besides, we've seen enough of your table manners, thanks very much." 

He held up his hands in self-defense. "Hey, Inu-Yasha _spat his food out. I just screamed." Ignoring Sango's disbelief, he looked out the window at the mermaids milling around the streets. "Can we just drift around, like you said?" _

"Sure." 

Within seconds they were out on the sand street. Miroku wasn't sure about how much of a dragon Sango was during the morning, but he decided not to test it, even when two extremely buxom ladies passed their way. 

When silence fell on them, Miroku attempted conversation. "You know, I've always been fascinated with mermaids. Inu-Yasha never believed in them, so that's probably why he freaked out doubly when he saw Kagome. I wasn't really that surprised when I saw you." 

"Hmm…" she said, staring ahead. 

_She's so distant, _Miroku mused. _She hates __it when I flirt with her. Oh, I see where this is heading. I am Miroku the Great, the man of a thousand lines. She is Sango, the girl who doesn't care. I, in my disbelief at her negative response to my advances, end up falling for her. Hmm…maybe Inu-Yasha's right. I have __been reading too many romantic novels. _

_I wonder what makes her swoon. Maybe if I got her flowers…where the heck do I get flowers underwater?!_

He hadn't realized he'd stopped swimming, so when he finally snapped back to reality, Sango was gone. 

"Sango?" he called, staring into the shops that dotted the street. "Sango, where are you?" 

Suddenly a mermaid rushed up to him, stopping herself by grabbing his shoulders. "You're the human boy, right?" she cried. 

Miroku looked down at his legs and raised an eyebrow. "I think…" 

She slapped her forehead. "Of course. What was I thinking? But that's not the matter. Naraku has Sango!"

Miroku frowned. _And that just clears things up, doesn't it?_ "Who?" 

"Naraku! Naraku the Black Miasma! He comes from the mer-city two oceans over…he's been after Sango for awhile, didn't she tell you?" Shaking her head frantically at Miroku's further-puzzled look, she clutched his shirt tighter. 

"Hmm…I think she left out that little detail when we were introducing ourselves. Actually, we didn't really introduce ourselves," Miroku explained feebly. "I know about Kagome and Kouga, though." 

The mermaid shook her head again. "Kouga is nothing compared to the Miasma! You have to save her now! He's got her around the curb!" 

"Oh, so I'm supposed to save Sango from a guy who's worse than someone who nearly stuck a knife through my friend's neck?" Miroku groaned. Of all the mermaids to save them, they had to be the ones that two evil mermen were after. But the mermaid had now rushed off quickly in the opposite direction, and Miroku swam towards the end of the street, where it curbed to another. 

He rounded the curve, and a deep voice asked, "Looking for someone, human?" 

Naraku the Miasma had long black hair and an amused gaze. He had Sango in a firm grip around her chest. Unlike Kouga, he didn't have a knife or thugs surrounding him. Miroku gulped. He wasn't just dealing with a street gang leader. 

"Are you looking for Sango? Fool. Don't you know Sango's mine? She has been mine, ever since I laid eyes on her. It'd be best if you went away now." 

Miroku stared at Sango, who was struggling to breathe. Then he glared at Naraku. "There are too few perfect breasts above water, much less under," he declared heroically. "Leave hers alone!" 

"What? _What are you saying_?" Sango cried with as much air as she could muster. 

Naraku laughed. "Sango, I told you that I may be hated, but I am a man of my word. We had an agreement, did we not? I was so entranced with you, I made a deal. If you could find a lover before my arrival, and not just any man you picked off the street, I would let you free…for a time. But I see no lover. You will come with me." 

Sango gritted her teeth. She seemed to be fighting an internal conflict. Then she jerked her chin towards Miroku. "You're wrong. He's my lover," she declared. She looked around the street. In fear of the Miasma, people had fled. For once she was glad the streets were empty. 

Miroku's jaw dropped, but instead of sinking into a deep shock like Inu-Yasha would have done, he quickly composed himself. "Let her go, Naraku," he said. "If you're really a man of your word, you'd believe her." 

The merman laughed softly. "You say you are her lover? Can you prove it?" 

Miroku waved his arms in the air. "You're asking if I can prove it while you're holding my girlfriend in a barely-breathing position?" 

Naraku's eyes narrowed. He let go of Sango, and she rushed over to Miroku, relief flooding through her. 

Miroku grabbed her in his arms. "Sango, are you ok?" he asked softly, his eyes instructing her to keep up the charade. 

Her face was still pale, but she nodded and allowed herself to be enveloped fully in his arms, partly out of shock. She prayed that his hands wouldn't stray from her back to somewhere else, and was half-surprised when they didn't. _He's a good actor. _

"Hm…I won't let you go just because you put on this performance for me, Sango," Naraku said. 

The human brushed the hair away from Sango's face and gazed defiantly at Naraku. "It's not a performance," he said smoothly. Seeing Naraku's eyes watching for any sign of an act, he leaned down and kissed her cheek. _Sango, if you slap me you're in for eternity with this bastard. She took the warning and did nothing. _

"Well, this stupid mortal seems unwilling to give you up, Sango. But I am not convinced you are lovers. I will monitor you for one month. If any sign shows that you are not lovers, I will take you, Sango, whether I have to kill or not. I am being fair, considering I am the Black Miasma." 

"Lovers can have their spats, too," Miroku argued. 

"Hmph. Fair enough. But I will be the judge of that." Naraku turned around, and his tail, black like his name and edged in silver, streaked through the water with such force Miroku found himself being driven back as Naraku made his exit.

Weakly, he let go of Sango. "Phew, I thought we were both going to die." He looked at Sango, who was still shivering. "Why didn't you tell us about him?" 

After some silence, Sango tossed him a glare. "I knew he wouldn't kill me, but he would kill anyone else who knew. Give me whatever 'noble sacrifices are overdone' speech you have, I _know_. I was going to tell Kagome last night, but then Inu-Yasha started waking up, and I just kind of lost my nerve. 

"Maybe I should have been rescued by an ugly mermaid," Miroku mused. "Then I wouldn't get tangled up in all of this." Then his face broke into a smile. "So we're lovers now, huh?"

Her eyes turned steely. "You know that's not true, though." 

"But it is for one month. Hey, think of me, too! I have to abstain from flirting for nine days! That's like Inu-Yasha without ramen." 

As Miroku mourned his fate, Sango sighed. "I guess I'll have to tell Kagome. She was so preoccupied with Kouga, I couldn't tell her that her friend was going through the same thing."

Miroku teasingly rubbed noses with her. "But now everyone will know, right, dear?" 

She pulled back from him with a frown. "Don't do that," she muttered. "And don't try to feel me up, I'll be sure to hit you."

"Really? Well, there's another sacrifice I'm going to have to make," Miroku said affably. "Well then, let's go look for Inu-Yasha. My stomach feels like its digesting itself." He slipped a hand through Sango's. 

Startled, she yanked her hand back. Miroku sighed. "Come on, Sango, if you become phobic just with this, how are you going to get through kissing without going into shock?" 

"Kissing?" Sango squeaked. 

"That's kind of what 'lovers' do," Miroku explained, stretching each word slowly. "Unless you get _really _passionate and that's when you—"

"No, we are not putting this charade to _that _extent!" Sango said fiercely. 

Miroku shrugged. "Okay. Now if we hold hands, do you promise not to bite mine off?" 

Though it was tempting, what with the way he flaunted her problem—her own business—in her face like it was no big deal, Sango forced a nod and had to grit her teeth as he slipped his hand through hers again. It was going to be a very long month. 

As they swam down the street, Sango looked down at their entwined hands, her expression somewhat surprised. Miroku held her hand in such a way that their fingers were laced together. 

She smiled slightly, partly in surprised pleasure and partly in relief that he wasn't groping her or cracking perverted jokes. 

_Hey, this isn't so bad. _


	5. Secrets Unveiled Pick me Up

            AN: Whoa, how long has it been? Anyways, even though I said this was on hold, I ended up writing it anyway! I always do the thing I say I won't do, so…I won't write a novel! He he he…I've changed the details and the plot of this slightly, so if there are any rough spots in the story I'll try to smooth them over. I added a tiny bit in chapter 4 to go in line with my new idea (the change is in Kagome's mother's reactions to the humans) but I'm way to lazy to re-write the chapters. It took a lot to lift my heavy butt to get this one working. Hmm…I don't seem to have much of a plot yet, but I'll say Kikyo's part of the plot and she's introduced here, so I'm getting to the plot. Stick with me for this one. Oh, and if you like my stuff, read **Reclaiming Life (I know, I'm plugging. But it's my author's notes!). It's a vampire story, but don't expect anything Buffy-like. Anyway enjoy this chapter…probably laze around before getting to writing the next one. **

Secrets Unveiled (Don't Pick Me Up)

            Inu-Yasha was laughing hysterically, banging on the side of a coral building with his fist. "Lovers?" he sputtered, barely getting the word out. "Miroku going steady? When that happens I'll flirt with every waitress in the restaurant to get a free meal!" Then he exploded into more bursts of laughter. 

            Kagome was worried about another thing. "Why didn't you tell me about Naraku, Sango? He's dangerous! He's worse than Kouga." Turning the humans, she explained, "When merchildren are bad, their mothers tell them, 'You'd better behave or I'll make Naraku come and eat you.'" Her concerned look dropped for a minute when she smiled slyly. "Then again, I've also heard he's really rich." 

            "Hey! That's my girl!" Miroku said, beaming at Kagome. "You know what they say, great minds think alike." The arm around Sango's waist drew her closer to him. "But Sango isn't going back for anything, when she's got a handsome hunk like me." 

            "Oh, please!" Sango twisted out of his grasp and crossed her arms angrily. "It's not what you all think. Miroku and I are _not—" _

            "Tut tut, honey, no fights," Miroku said with a twinkle in his eye. "Someone might be watching." 

            Sango looked like she wanted to rip his head off and feed it to the sharks, but she just tossed her head and looked away. "Think of it as a lover's spat," she snapped. 

            Inu-Yasha shook his head. "Of all the mermaids who could have saved us from the storm, it had to be the two that attracted the city's major badasses. Why couldn't we get ugly mermaids?" 

            "That's exactly what I said," Miroku added. "They could have just tossed us on shore and we'd think we were saved by dugongs with arms or something. If they'd been ugly we could have gotten out of here faster and never known there was this amazing world with gorgeous mermaids." He turned mournful eyes up above him. "Woe is our fate."   

            "So are you guys, uh, dating?" Kagome asked, furtively floating away from Sango in case she triggered some maniacal reaction. Sango turned and glared at her frostily. "I guess that means yes," Kagome said feebly.

            "For one month. That's how long Naraku's going to keep an eye on her." Miroku suddenly thought of something, and his brow furrowed. "Wait, that means we have to stay here for one month. We can't return Rin yet. We can't go back yet! I mean, I don't really want to go back yet, but what if Lord Sesshoumaru gets pissed and doesn't give us our payment?! Aah, I'm torn!"

            Inu-Yasha muttered something like, "Oh, what a tangled web we weave." But he knew Miroku wasn't going to leave until the month was up—which meant he would be staying too. He wondered if they were ever going to get home…he looked furtively at Kagome and wondered why he was in such a hurry.

            "Hang on," Sango said suddenly. "If we are going steady, then didn't Inu-Yasha say he would flirt with every waitress in a restaurant?" The first smile they'd seen from her appeared on her face as she pointedly stared at Inu-Yasha. It was time for someone else to suffer. "And I'm willing to admit that we're going steady if I get to see Inu-Yasha flirt." 

            Miroku snorted. "Inu-Yasha, flirting? That's like me becoming a monk." Then he laughed as if that was the stupidest thing in the whole world. 

            Kagome was also smiling. "Actually, I think I remember you saying that too, Inu-Yasha."

            Sango raised her eyebrow at him. "Come on, you just spent the past few minutes laughing at me. Now it's my turn." 

            "What? I wasn't laughing at you! I was laughing at Miroku!" Inu-Yasha protested. 

            "You guys, Inu-Yasha's never been the romantic type. That's why I get all the girls back in Houshi," Miroku explained, ignoring his friend's withering glare. "He wouldn't flirt, and I doubt he's very good at it." 

            "Hmph. Like you are, Miroku," Sango muttered. "Shall I find a lovely mermaid whom you can ever so charmingly compare her to a booger and pick—" 

            He placed a hand over her mouth. "Now, now, dear…"

            "Remove that hand or I'll do it for you," Sango said bluntly in a muffled tone.  

            Kagome looked at Inu-Yasha, her eyes dancing with laughter. "You can't be worse than that," she said, latching on to his shoulder. "Please, Inu-Yasha, pleeeaase?" 

            One look into those eyes and he was lost. "Okay." Behind him, Miroku and Sango exchanged knowing grins, Miroku having removed his offending hand from Sango's mouth. 

            All throughout the swim to the Shark Shack, Inu-Yasha was thinking of pick up lines. And about how stupid he was. He didn't have to do this! He didn't flirt with people. That was Miroku's forte. And although he sucked sometimes, he was good enough to get them the free meals. Inu-Yasha just ate, there was no telling how he would do. 

            The restaurant was half-full, so they easily got seats and their free cups of altea. "Ready?" Miroku said slyly. "Or are you chickening out?" 

            This was Inu-Yasha's weakness. No one could ever accuse him of chickening out. "Hah! Bring it on!" 

            "Excuse me, waitress!" Miroku yelled, beckoning for one of the mermaids flitting about. She swam over. "Your turn," Miroku said, and winked. Turning to the waitress, he said smoothly, "My friend wants to ask you something." 

            The waitress turned to Inu-Yasha. Upon seeing him she smiled. Inu-Yasha _was _good-looking, after all, and the confused expression on his face made him look cuter. She leaned over to him and bent her head down, her copper hair mingling with his silver strands. 

            Kagome felt a prickle of irritation. _Chill, it's just a game…but does she have to get so close? _

            "Hey there, honey, what can I do for you?" 

            Inu-Yasha swallowed. _Come on, Inu-Yasha, when you look at her what do you see? Gorgeous hair, dazzling eyes, just say whatever comes to mind first. _ "…So, you're a girl, huh?" 

            Her smile froze. Miroku's jaw dropped. Inu-Yasha realized what he said and shook his head wildly. "I mean, that's not what I meant! What's a nice girl like you doing with a face like that?" Miroku's jaw dropped even further. The waitress was beginning to look a little offended. "No! I meant your face is nice! Really! But it must have really hurt when you fell from heaven!" Inu-Yasha stammered. The waitress crossed her arms. "Don't take it the wrong way! I'm just saying you're an angel! A fallen angel! No, I mean an angel that fell from…heaven…you know? So you're like, not normal, because…you're from heaven?" Miroku's head was buried under his arms. Inu-Yasha didn't even want to see Kagome's expression. One last try…he smiled brilliantly at the waitress. "Would you touch me so I can tell my friends I was touched by an angel?" 

            "With pleasure!" The waitress slapped him. "You may be a handsome human boy, but you should work on your pick up lines. Maybe you can call when you aren't so insulting." And she swam off, leaving a flurry of bubbles against Inu-Yasha's face. 

            There was silence as all eyes were fixed on Inu-Yasha's pink cheek. "Well, that went well," Miroku finally said. "Considering she didn't kill you halfway through your speech. I would have." 

            Inu-Yasha glared darkly at Sango, who was blinking at him innocently. "This is all your fault. Why don't you try and pick someone up, huh?" 

            "Oh, she already did," Miroku said casually. "At a raw salmon kiosk on our way to meet you guys. Let's just say she's as good as it as you are, Inu-Yasha." 

            Sango flicked him hard on the arm. "Miroku, shut up!" Looking at Kagome and Inu-Yasha smirking, she explained, "He was doing the flirting thing against just five minutes after we shook Naraku off. So I tried to give him a taste of his own medicine." 

            "Operative word being 'tried,'" Miroku cut in. "Let's just say whatever the reason Naraku's interested in you, it's definitely not your flirting skills. I think Sango just wanted to see someone else suffer today, so she picked on Inu-Yasha." 

            Inu-Yasha frowned thoughtfully. "Then that means the only person who hasn't humiliated themselves in front of us is—" His gaze slid to Kagome. She was drinking her altea but stopped when she saw everyone looking at her. 

            She widened her eyes innocently as she put her cup down. "What? Me? Whatever for? Both of you did this by choice. I just want to sit back and enjoy my meal, and no one's ordered it yet." 

            "That's why you're going to do this," Inu-Yasha said, as if that explained the whole thing. "Come on, you can't be worse than me. Or Sango, although I wasn't there to witness the fiasco—though I wished I was. Ouch! Sorry…and besides, if anyone slaps you, I'll kick their ass."

            "My hero," Miroku chimed in a singsong voice. 

            Kagome grinned. "Fine. I'll do it." When Miroku raised a hand to call a male waiter, she stopped him. "No, I can do this myself. Watch, I'll give you a run for your money." She turned her back to Miroku and his "Oooh, big words" warning and caught the attention of a male waiter leaning against the restaurant wall. The waiter, one of those tall Nordic muscly types, looked confused for a moment and pointed at himself. Kagome nodded and extended a hand, beckoning him to her by curling her forefinger towards him. 

            He swam as if in a daze towards her. "Uh…Shark Shack, can I take your order?" 

            Kagome tossed her head and smiled coyly up at him. "If I said you had a good body, would you hold it against me?" Beside her, Miroku whispered, "Ooh, two points!" The waiter's smart response was, "Uh…" 

            Kagome leaned back and surveyed the waiter. "Maybe you're not an oral person," she mused thoughtfully, still with the hint of a smile. "It's okay. I am." Sango and Inu-Yasha were staring at their friend, who'd never said such things in her entire life. Well, Sango would know about that. Inu-Yasha, on the other hand. was feeling slightly annoyed, and not because he sucked at this game, because he couldn't have cared less about that. It was because _she_ was good. And that merman was already smitten with her, if she wasn't careful she could have another stalker on her hands…or something like that…

            "You must be tired," Kagome said, placing a hand on the merman's arm. "Because you've been running through my mind all night." The waiter was looking at his arm like a great white had just taken a huge chunk out of it, and nothing better could have happened to him. 

            "Oh yeah, that's a favorite," Miroku said knowingly, to anyone who'd listen. "A crowd-pleaser, that is. She's a natural." 

            "Would you shut your trap?" Inu-Yasha said shortly. Miroku held up his hands. Kagome glanced sideways at Inu-Yasha, and for a split second her brows twitched in worry. Then she turned back to the waiter. "Now, don't get me all tongue-tied when I say my order…"

            She went around the table, asking everyone what they wanted and repeating it back to the waiter in that coy fashion. When she reached Inu-Yasha, he just scowled at her. But this time, instead of looking worried, she looked annoyed. 'What is it with you?' she mouthed at him, away from the waiter. 'It's only a game!' 

            'It's not that!' Inu-Yasha mouthed back angrily, oblivious to the fact that he was facing the waiter and his expressions could be easily seen, which obliterated the whole purpose of mouthing words. "I'll get the shrimp noodle bowl. Make sure it's cooked," he said directly to the waiter. 

            "Cooked?" The waiter repeated. His deep blue eyes traveled down to Inu-Yasha's legs. "Oh, yeah, I heard about the mortals here and their strange appetites."

            "Geez, the service in this place is horrible!" Inu-Yasha said loudly to the ceiling. "Can't a guy just eat in peace?!" 

            "That's all," Kagome said charmingly to the waiter. "My friend's just a bit grumpy. He got dumped recently. He can't seem to…pick it up." She hit him where she stung. 

            Inu-Yasha glared at her. "Yeah, apparently girls don't like it when you shamelessly flirt around with restaurant staff," he murmured under his breath. Abruptly he stood up and swam away from the table towards the exit. Sango and Miroku looked at each other, Sango biting her lip. 

            Kagome closed her eyes and counted to three. When she turned around to the blond waiter again, she said, "I'm really sorry about his attitude. Um…how much does that cost?" 

            When the waiter named the price, Kagome put a hand to her mouth, shocked. "Wow…that's so much…I don't think I brought that much." Her eyes looked teary, as if she were really about to cry. It didn't seem to be part of her act. "But a handsome waiter like you could just wave away the bill, right? You do look like you have some power around here."          

            "Well," the waiter preened. "I'm sure I could arrange it so that the bill never makes it to this table. You know…for a girl so pretty." 

            Kagome giggled. "You're so sweet. You must have girls falling all over for you." She fluttered her fingers at him when he left, but lowered her head in her arms when he was gone.  

            Miroku was shaking his head in wonder. "Kagome, we must be related," he declared. 

             Sango cautiously patted Kagome's shoulder. "There, there…you shouldn't let men make you feel bad…it wasn't your fault at all…"

            "Don't cry," Miroku added, not knowing what else to say.

            Kagome looked up, and her eyes were blazing—but dry. "Cry? Hah! Inu-Yasha's a jerk! Besides, he's the one who put me up to it! Just because I'm better at him at it…" 

            "I think it's not that," Miroku said. "I think he's jealous. Hee hee…" 

            Kagome stared at him. "Jealous? Um…because the blond guy had more muscles?" 

            "No, jealous because of all the attention you showered on that guy," Sango put in. "I mean, we could see it on his face." 

            Her friend was blushing now. "No way, he couldn't have been jealous. I mean, you saw how he acted. He was mad at _me. Although he's got no right to be…" then another thought hit her. "Hey, is he going to eat his food?" _

             "Are you going to call him in?" Miroku asked. 

            "I think he ran off," Kagome said. "Which means firstly he probably won't be eating, and secondly he's forgetting all about the one-hour thing and he'll be choking and writhing on the ground about ten minutes from now unless a mermaid helps him." 

            "Tough. Guess he won't be eating then," Miroku said nonchalantly. "So, aside from me, who wants shrimp?" 

*          *          *

            The days passed, and the week was almost up. It was almost time to visit the king. Three more weeks would pass before they could go home. 

            Kagome and Inu-Yasha made up (as expected—they couldn't stay mad at each other. This happened with much consoling from Sango and Miroku, and also because Inu-Yasha couldn't keep approaching strangers asking them for the kiss of life), but not without Miroku humming the tune of "Jealousy" in Inu-Yasha's ear for the next three days. This also meant that Sango had to drag Miroku around wherever they went, since he was usually incapacitated from Inu-Yasha's often violent reactions. They went around eating, laughing, and playing around like children. Kagome taught Inu-Yasha a thing or two about pick-up lines, and Miroku always kept one of Sango's hands in his—there always seemed to be a shadow lurking behind a building corner. 

            Talks from the street about their relationships reached their ears, but they pushed it into the back of their minds—after all, they weren't in love, right? The two mortals would go back up to land and probably would never be seen again. 

            That thought worried Kagome. She wasn't going to deny that she'd grown attached to Inu-Yasha. It was hard not to like a person who'd saved you from the bad boy of the town, and who actually felt jealous when you flirted with other men. Besides, during the week she'd learned a lot about him. He and Miroku were practically street urchins up on land. Their fathers had been great sailors, and they'd had a great ship, but they'd disappeared mysteriously and neither of them had been able to find their fathers. 

            But at least he'd experienced life with a father. The day before visiting the king, Kagome had to go to the grocery store to get vegetables. Inu-Yasha went with her. Being the nice gentleman he was, he carried the empty shopping bag that the family owned. Or, rather, Kagome thrust it at him with the short words, "Hold it" and reminded him that she'd saved him from a storm and gave him a place to stay and fed him and etcetera until he really had no choice but to comply. 

            In the grocery, Kagome was sorting through different bags of the last item on her list: plankton chunks—at least that's what it said on the wrapping. Inu-Yasha gaped at the display. "What on earth do you need plankton chunks for?" 

            "They're quite good to eat alone, actually, but mostly they season the broth." Kagome grabbed bags, felt them, then dropped them, unable to find one that satisfied her. "Oh man, their selection today isn't that good." 

            Inu-Yasha gaped some more. He lifted up two bags. "What is the difference between this bag and this bag? They both say plankton chunks on the front!" 

            "Inu-Yasha! It's more than just picking a bag, you know," Kagome said, shaking her head. "You have to know exactly what you're buying. One of your bags could have soggy plankton and the other could be too dry. I don't know if it's just that guys don't understand grocery shopping or what." 

            He scanned the room. At the sea cucumbers section, a merchild and her father were having a similar argument. "But Daddy, what's the difference between _this _cucumber and that cucumber? They're both gonna have worms in them anyway!" 

            "No, sweetie, you've got to really look at them. Some might have more worms than others." Her father reached in and grabbed a sea cucumber. "See, this one's getting rotten…feel it. Besides, if we pick the wrong one, your mother will be mad." 

            "But Daddy, they all look the same!" 

            "But they're not, darling. If I pick the wrong cucumber that has plenty of worms, I'll have no place to put them—except in your hair!" 

            The little girl's shrieks and the father's laughter almost made Inu-Yasha break into a big doofy grin. He looked at Kagome, half expecting to see her sniffling with happiness at the sight, but she didn't look happy at all. She looked sad and wistful. 

            "Often I wonder…why other kids got wonderful fathers and I got the one that skipped," she said softly. Inu-Yasha remembered Sango telling him they didn't talk about Kagome's father. 

But he was curious. "But you knew who he was, right?" 

            "No…he left before I was born. I don't know, maybe to you it seems like the typical tragic sob story of a fatherless person, since I know that's quite common on the surface. But down here, it's disgraceful if you don't know your father. Only two people know, my mom and—" she suddenly stopped. "My uncle," she continued. "And they're both not telling. It's as if he's so bad he's gotta be kept a secret."

            Inu-Yasha leaned against the table of plankton chunks. "It's not like you're being shunned by the mermaid community, is it?" 

            "No," Kagome replied. "But that's because…well, I'm on the rescuers patrol, which always has honor in it, and…I'll just say the rest of my family is respectable enough to make up for it. But if I were a normal mermaid, then life would've been kinda different." 

            What did she mean by the rest of her family? He'd only seen her mother. And what was this about being normal? "You know, there's something you're not telling me," he said. "But if you don't want to tell me that's okay. I'll find out, though. It's obviously bugging you inside. In the meanwhile, I think even if you didn't have that patrol job or a good family, you'd still be liked." He wanted to tilt her chin up, raise her downcast eyes to meet his. His hand strayed around her cheek, and instead he tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ears. _I'm such a concerned sweetheart…_he thought, cringing slightly. _If this doesn't stop soon I'll be spouting off bad dialogue worthy of Mexican soaps. _

            "I can't tell you. Not yet. But thanks for being concerned." Kagome said, reddening at his touch. "And you really didn't have to listen to my blathering." Then her face became grave. "Okay, seriously! I need to buy some plankton chunks!" 

            "Here!" Inu-Yasha picked up a couple of packs and put them in the shopping bag. "Now let's go! We've spent enough time here!"

            "Hang on! You didn't even check to see if they were right or not…" The look Inu-Yasha gave her made her voice trail off. "But you know I bet they're great…you're hungry, aren't you?" 

            "Whatever gave you that idea?" He grabbed her hand. "Come on, or I might actually start to eat those things."

            She followed, smiling, her cheek warm with his touch and her thoughts filled with the boy with the golden eyes. Meanwhile, Inu-Yasha worried about the girl with the silver-blue tail. What did the merworld think about her, in this state of apparent disgrace? 

            But most important, what did _he think about her?_

*          *          *

            The week was up. And the king was waiting.

            They took dolphins, and Miroku was able to experience the straight-down-behind-a-dorsal-fin feeling as well. The castle was just passed the mercity, but they could see its golden spires gleaming above all the other buildings. The four of them dismounted in front of the castle and the guards that flanked either side of the large door.

            Miroku said, "Is it just me or is this kind of scary?" 

            "It's just you," Inu-Yasha lied. Kagome and Sango talked with the guards a moment—the guards nodded and pushed the golden doors aside. "Please enter," one of them said. The four of them swam inside. Out of the corner of Inu-Yasha's eye he saw the guards bow their heads slightly to Kagome as she lagged behind. 

            The castle was richer than Lord Sesshoumaru's manor. Somewhere a choir of angels was singing. Vases of pearls lined the castle—the mermaids had to restrain the humans from trying to make off with them. The floor was not only coral, but pressed into the coral were semi precious stones—a pebbled hall of jewels. 

            They reached a door that had pictures of beautiful mermaids engraved on it. Inu-Yasha took a closer look at the door. "Hey, Kagome, that looks like you," he said, pointing at one particularly gorgeous mermaid. 

            She stiffened. "That's not me."

            "Yeah it is. Look, the hair, the face, that's you."

            "It's not me," she snapped. "Don't push it, okay?" 

            "What? Then how are we supposed to get in?" Miroku asked, then chuckled at his own lame joke. He was the only one that did. 

            No one had to push the door open, since it swung open on its own. Must have been the power source. When the two mortals peeked in, their jaws dropped simultaneously. 

            The room was large than the first floor of Sesshoumaru's manor. Shining torches alight with flame (courtesy of the power source, of course) lined the walls. Mermaid courtesans with strings of pearls wrapped round their waists swam gracefully around, laughing. 

            Two of them came up and grabbed Inu-Yasha's and Miroku's arms. "His Majesty will see you now," they said with silky voices. 

            "You guys go on ahead," Kagome said, lingering behind the door. "I'll stay here." 

            Inu-Yasha looked backwards—the mermaids had already began tugging them forward. "Hey, what are you doing? We can't face the king alone." 

            "Yes you can. Sango'll stay with me." Sango's confused face switched to understanding at Kagome's warning glare. "Besides, the king's seen enough mermaids. He's really only interested in the two of you. Now go, he doesn't like to be kept waiting either." She shooed them off, and the look that followed showed that she wasn't going to be going with them, no matter what. 

            The two mortals passed the throng of mermaids until they reached the back of the room. On a platform, on a throne made of pearls, was the king of the mercity. He had thick black hair that was flattened by his massive gold crown. But to Miroku, something seemed missing…

            "Where's his trident?" 

            Inu-Yasha nudged him hard. "You sot, what kind of silly question is that?" 

            "Well, obviously _you _were deprived as a child." Miroku sniffed.  

            "At least I don't still act like one…unlike some people." 

            "Apparently is it not your custom to bow before a king?" a deep, rumbling voice interrupted their argument. His voice echoed throughout the room. They both looked up and remembered where they were. Then the hint reached their brains and automatically they sank to their knees. 

            _Oh lord, oh master, however may we serve you? _Inu-Yasha thought dryly, his eyes meeting the king's imperious stare. He didn't like this guy already. But then the king's face split into a grin and he laughed, his laughter practically shaking the walls. 

            "Well it's not in ours! Get up! Hahaha!" They jolted to their feet. Inu-Yasha saw Miroku mouthing, 'He's completely loony' from the side of his mouth. He couldn't have agreed more. 

            "So you've been here a week, eh? How'd you find our humble city?" 

            Miroku shrugged. "It's better than what humans have. Your power source works wonders. And there's lots of pretty ladies," he added with a lopsided grin. Inu-Yasha smacked his hand over his face and slowly slid it down. "We are going to be kicked out before Miroku can say 'If I leave, my girlfriend's dead.'" 

            "Hm…but you know the rule about mermaid-mortal relationships?" This time the king looked serious. "They can cause so much trouble…" Then he perked up. "Isn't the mermaid that saved you Kagome?" 

            Inu-Yasha nodded. "And Sango," Miroku added. 

            "Well, did she come with you?" 

            "Yeah, but she didn't want to come inside," Inu-Yasha shrugged. "She's waiting back at the entrance, thought."

            "What?" The king roared. "That's ridiculous. Send Kagome in. Kagome! Kagome!" Miroku winced, fighting the urge to cover his ears. Everyone turned towards the direction of the entrance. Then, finally, Kagome appeared from behind the doors, flanked by Sango. 

            "Kagome, what's this I hear about you not wanting to come inside? Come in!" the king commanded. Scowling like a petulant child Kagome swam through the path made for her by the courtesans. "Tattletale," she muttered when she reached Inu-Yasha. She raised her voice to address the king. "What do you want, your Majesty?" 

            The king shook his head. "Don't 'Your Majesty' me, Kagome, does Kikyo call me Your Majesty? Does your mother? You're family!" 

            "Family?" Inu-Yasha repeated, shocked. 

            "I've always tried to make you call me 'Uncle' but you never will, will you?" 

            "Uncle?" Miroku asked. "Let's rewind a little. I think we're missing a bit of the conversation." 

            The king raised his eyebrow. "Didn't you know? Kagome's my niece. She'd be living in the castle if it weren't for, you know, that whole thing with her father…" Kagome looked down, her face red. But Inu-Yasha could see she wasn't embarrassed. She was angry. But she kept her lips tightly shut. 

            A door to the side of the throne opened, and two mermaids floated in. They stepped aside to let another pass through. She was tall, her tail long and a beautiful reddish silver. No one in the mercity had reddish silver tails—they all had blue-green ones, except for Kagome and her mother, who had silver in theirs. It must be royalty who had the silver tails. The girl had long black hair that flowed past her waist. Her human top was while and slender. She was breathtaking. 

            And she looked exactly like Kagome. 

            About a million questions were answered in Inu-Yasha's head, like the carving on the wall and Kagome's bitterness about her 'respected family' and the princess. But he didn't look at Kagome—his eyes were fixed on the girl. And her eyes were fixed on him. 

            "Father, why are you causing such a ruckus?" the princess asked, her voice like cool aloe vera on his eyes (great, now he was getting poetic). "But now I see…mortals have come into the city. No one told me?" 

            Her father waved a hand carelessly. "Don't concern yourself with these things." 

            Kikyo swam slowly to the throne, her eyes never leaving Inu-Yasha's face. "But I will be queen one day. It's my responsibility to concern myself with these things. Especially mortals." 

            Kagome was watching Inu-Yasha's face. Her own was tight with anger. 

            Miroku took a few steps back and surveyed the picture. The king's eyes were on Kagome. Kagome's eyes were on Inu-Yasha. Inu-Yasha's eyes were on Kikyo. And Kikyo's slowly slid between Inu-Yasha and Kagome, trying to discern their relationship. Mostly they were on Inu-Yasha, and a smile played around that beautiful mouth. 

            He repeated the words Inu-Yasha had said just days before; "Oh, what a tangled web we weave." 


	6. In the Abyss

            AN: Hee hee, how long did that take? Actually, this is like my average update time, practically (although I've been a bit faster with Reclaiming Life.) Uh…don't know what to say, except…oh, to that person who left the review saying they didn't like the idea of two merman after Sango and Kagome, I have to say I agree with you completely. I wrote it so fast I hadn't realized what I'd done, and that was the major reason why I wanted to rewrite the entire story. So sorry about that…^^. Thanks for your reviews, even though I all but abandoned this fic. And hey **Ashley,**** thanks for leaving those emails, your last one really got me off my butt and working on it. ^_^ So, enjoy the chapter. **

In the Abyss

            It was kind of weird, looking at a replica of Kagome and knowing that the real Kagome was somewhere behind him. But also in many ways the princess looked just like Kagome, she wasn't like Kagome. For one thing, her hair was longer. Her skin was also whiter, and she gave off a languid air, unlike Kagome's warmth. As for who was more beautiful (even if they almost looked the same, they had different defining features)—well, if he asked Miroku he would probably say the princess, but Inu-Yasha wasn't so sure he'd say the same thing. 

            Finally, Kikyo's burning eyes left him and traveled to her almost-twin. "Hello, Kagome, it's been awhile since we've met," she said pleasantly, like she was talking to an acquaintance. 

            Inu-Yasha could practically feel Kagome's back stiffen. "Yeah, it's been awhile," she repeated. 

            "Are you still searching for your father?" 

            "Yes," Kagome snapped, maybe a little too quickly. The king cleared his throat. Kagome frowned. "But not all the time. I believe in moving on," she muttered, looking down. 

            Kikyo smiled. "I see. And how is Auntie doing?" 

            "Fine," Kagome forced out. "Look, I'm sure you're interested in Inu-Yasha and Miroku, so why don't me and Sango leave, and you and His Majesty can ask them whatever you like?" She sent an apologetic look at Inu-Yasha. He didn't exactly want Kikyo interrogating _him, but it looked like Kagome was in more hot water than he was. _

            This time when Kikyo smiled, she showed a line of white teeth. "That's right. So are you Miroku?" she directed towards Inu-Yasha. 

            He shook his head. "No, I'm Inu-Yasha. He's Miroku," he said, gesturing with his thumb at his friend. "And like he said before, really great city." 

            The king nodded. "Well, you can stay as long as you like. We only ask two things in return—" he held up two fingers. "One—you tell no one about the mercity. A lot of drowning sailors think they were saved by seals and whatnot, and we'd like to keep it that way. If you tell, we'll know, and there are fatal consequences for that." He withdrew a finger, made a slashing motion with the one remaining finger, then held it up again. "Two—don't fall in love. It sounds silly, but we've had problems with it before, and we don't want it recurring." 

            Inu-Yasha looked at Kikyo. She looked like she wanted to make that rule difficult for him. He chanced a peek at Kagome. She was glaring determinedly at the floor. 

            "Other than that, feel free to do whatever you like—you know, except for the murders and robberies and all that stuff." From Kagome's direction came an impatient sigh. "But I am curious about the mortal world, so I have a favor to ask—would you mind if I asked some questions about the mortal world? Such as…I don't know, how loyal a father is to his family?" 

            Inu-Yasha and Miroku exchanged glances. "Sure, if you want," Inu-Yasha finally said with a shrug. 

            Kikyo butted in, "Oh, Father, not here. It's too uncomfortable." Turning her beautiful face towards her audience again, she asked, "Would you stay for dinner? The castle chefs make the finest food, and we would be honored to have your company." 

            Then, almost as an afterthought, she added, "Oh, Kagome, you and your friend could come as well, I suppose. You are family, after all." Both Kagome and Sango bristled. 

"She's a bitch," Sango hissed in Kagome's ear. 

"That's why I never tell anyone about my family," Kagome whispered back. Inu-Yasha heard her. 

            If Kikyo hadn't sounded like inviting Kagome was a formality, then maybe Inu-Yasha would've accepted. But Kagome had done so much for him, and here she was being cast away. He opened his mouth to say thanks but no thanks, but Kagome interrupted, "They'd love to stay. But I have to help Mother, and take care of Rin. She's another mortal we found. Thanks for your invitation, though." The tone at the end of her voice showed she didn't care much about eating at the castle. 

            "That works out fine," Kikyo said, clapping her graceful hands together. 

            Inu-Yasha turned and gaped at Kagome. "We can't stay here alone—" 

            "Yes you can," Kagome said evenly. "It's not as bad as it sounds. I'm sure Kikyo will be very nice to you. There's so many good things about the princess, after all." She smiled, though it didn't reach her eyes. "She can even give you the permanent breath of life, so you don't have to rely on me all the time." 

            As she and Sango swam away, she called over her shoulder, "Take care of the mortals, Kikyo! They have delicate digestive systems. See you, Your Majesty!" They disappeared, leaving the mortals staring helplessly after them.

            The king sighed. "Why won't she ever call me 'Uncle?'" 

*          *          *

            Inu-Yasha was yawning by the time he swam into Kagome's house. Miroku was already half-asleep, and Inu-Yasha had the thankless job of trying to drag him back to the house. It was already late. As he neared the house, he recalled the events that had happened. 

            Kikyo had been right in saying the food was great—he and Miroku practically cleaned the entire table of food. The royal family didn't eat much anyway—the king nibbled on the same piece of lobster the whole night, and Kikyo didn't even touch her food. Inu-Yasha noticed that there was a person missing. He wondered where the queen was, but he knew it wasn't in his place to ask. Instead he just concentrated on eating, because mermaid servants were bringing in new courses faster than he could devour them.

            Of course, it was kinda hard to eat. Kikyo kept asking questions about his life on land, questions identical to the ones Kagome had asked one week ago. Inu-Yasha knew she was interested in him—she didn't exactly make an effort to hide it. Kikyo was ignoring her father's warning glances and laying out all her charm. 

            It might've worked too, but every time Inu-Yasha looked at Kikyo's porcelain face, he thought of Kagome's face, pink with happiness. Kikyo hadn't saved his life. He'd never felt her lips on his, or wondered if he'd ever feel her lips on his simply for the pleasure of it—

            He jolted himself from these thoughts and shuddered. _Eww, I'm getting too mushy for my own good. He'd never thought much about love or attraction, since he never paid attention to girls in Houshi (except for his favorite gal—the old hang who ran Ramen restaurant.) It was scary to think that a girl—not even a real girl, a half-human—could change that. _

            Inu-Yasha suddenly spoke up, interrupting Kikyo, and made a feeble excuse about it being late. "We should probably go." _Kagome must be worried, he added mentally, knowing Kikyo wouldn't care about that information. _

            The princess stood up at the same time. "Oh, but it's been more than an hour since the last breath of life." Throughout the afternoon and dinner, courtesans had been coming in and giving them the mermaid's breath, something that Miroku had enjoyed much more than the food. "But please, allow me to do it for this time." 

            He hesitated. Miroku looked at him, confused. Kikyo noticed and smiled reassuringly. "I do have the gift of bestowing the permanent breath of life, but I don't have to use it, and I certainly won't, if that's what you're worrying about." Inu-Yasha's shoulders visibly relaxed. 

            Kikyo swam gracefully towards them. She placed her hands on Miroku's arms and drew him close, pressing her lips lightly against his. Inu-Yasha saw the shocked expression on Miroku's face and could immediately read his mind—_That's__ one fine mermaid. Kikyo went over to him and took his face in her hands. She brought it down and kissed him. Really kissed him. Before he could move away, she breathed life into him, then released him, grinning. __Whoa, she's a real sneak…her lips had been cool. _

             Inu-Yasha suddenly stopped swimming. Miroku, who'd been peacefully drifting, bumped into him. "Ouch…hey, why'd you stop? What's going on?" 

            Inu-Yasha brought a hand up to his lips. "I'm just wondering if maybe Kikyo did give me the permanent breath of life…my lips still feel cold." 

            Miroku pursed his lips. "Yeah? Mine too. But she wouldn't give that to me, she doesn't like me. Too bad. We all saw her fawning over you." He yawned widely. "It's nighttime, and unlike fish we can't control our body temperature in the water. Of course your lips would be cold." 

            "Yeah…I guess." Inu-Yasha _was cold, but he had the feeling that it was really Kikyo. He'd felt no warmth from her lips. They were as cool and elegant as her manner. After realizing he'd just spend the last few minutes thinking about Kikyo's lips, he started banging his forehead against the wall of the house, as if trying to force the evil demons out of his head._

            "Hey, stop! What are you doing? If you want to get in, all you have to do is swim inside," Miroku said, laying a hand on his friend's arm. Inu-Yasha reluctantly pulled away and swam inside, Miroku following. 

            There was still light in the house, but the lights were dimmed. They swam up to where'd they'd been sleeping the nights before. Sango was there, reading a book she'd borrowed from the mermaid library. Kagome was lying on Inu-Yasha's bed, fast asleep. Inu-Yasha remembered her saying mermaids didn't have to sleep, but they could if they wanted to. 

            "Hey," Sango said in a soft voice. "How was it?" 

            Miroku swam over and flung his arms around Sango dramatically. "Oh, it was terrible! I mean, the food was great, but the princess didn't once look at me!" Sango glared at Inu-Yasha over Miroku's shoulder, as if he had launched Miroku on her. Inu-Yasha just shrugged. Sango's eyes suddenly widened as Miroku's hand found a place long since groped. She moved back and slapped him hard. 

            His scream of pain made Kagome's stir. Her eyes fluttered, then slowly opened. "What's happening?" she murmured. Her eyes fell on Inu-Yasha. "Oh, hi. Did you have fun?" Though she sounded so sleepy he wasn't sure, but he thought he heard a trace of cynicism. 

            "It was OK," Inu-Yasha said nonchalantly. "They just asked us about humans and stuff." He sent a sideways glare at Miroku not to say anything. Miroku grinned, a huge handprint on his cheek. 

            "Hmm." Kagome sat up and stretched. "Did they give you the breath already?" 

            Inu-Yasha looked at her. "No," he lied. Miroku raised his eyebrow, but heeded Inu-Yasha's warning and didn't say anything. He needed to feel warmth on his lips again. He needed to know if mermaid's lips were always chilly at night, or if it was just Kikyo. 

            Kagome went over to him. Tilting her face up, she let Inu-Yasha come down to her. Her lips were warm. 

            _I knew it. _Inu-Yasha waited until she was finished, then stood straight again. _It's not because it's cold outside or anything. Now that his lips were warm, he didn't have this topic bugging him anymore. He yawned widely suddenly. Miroku did the same. "I guess I'll just go to sleep now," he mumbled afterwards. _

            Kagome moved away, and he swam over to his bed. Within seconds he zonked out, sprawled across the coral. Maybe sleep would make him go back to his normal self, where he wouldn't be thinking these weird mushy thoughts about lips, where girls with fish tails were freaky, not beautiful, where immortal princesses did not stare at him like he was raw octopus on a platter…

*          *          *

            "Have fun!" Kagome shouted, waving at Rin and smiling. Rin waved back, her other hand firmly in the grip of a little mermaid her age. Rin was quick to make friends, perky child she was, and her new friends would help keep her mind off her father, whom she missed. 

            She didn't really know how it was going to work out. Miroku had to stay for a month, to keep Sango safe (which was one of the most romantic things Kagome had ever seen…too bad he was a pervert though). Rin had to go home, and there was a price on her head. The most obvious answer would be for Inu-Yasha to go to shore and return Rin, then wait till Miroku got back. But would they really separate? From what he'd told her, they rarely did anything apart. And if she and Sango returned Rin on their own, the boys wouldn't get the reward money. And she didn't like the idea of Inu-Yasha sleeping on the streets. She knew the streets on land were cold and hard, and only for people who had no home. 

            Kagome stopped at a fork in the road. The left way led to her home, but the right led outside the city to the ocean beyond. She decided to take a long swim out of the city, towards southwest, a direction she'd never gone before. 

            She'd been thinking about Inu-Yasha ever since he saved her from Kouga. Kagome knew quite well a mermaid-human relationship was forbidden, but it wasn't like she was madly in love with him or anything. It was more like a crush. It wasn't hard to have a crush on Inu-Yasha. First, he was cute. Those golden eyes were always unsettled, and Kagome always got lost in them whenever she looked into his eyes, leaving her looking like a dork with her mouth slightly open, staring in rapture. When he was concerned about her on the second day, asking her to eat, then saving her from Kouga and kicking his ass at the same, that added to his attractiveness. 

            Crushes were little things. She'd had tons of them on mermen. But she'd never felt that tight feeling in her chest whenever someone else looked at them. Or felt like her day had just gotten ten times better when she saw them. Crushes were usually just physical attraction. So was this a crush? 

            Kagome looked down at her tail. It would have to be. She and Inu-Yasha couldn't make anything of it anyway. He would return to land and they'd never see each other again. Best for her if she put it out of her head and just continued living on without him. He was only just a man, anyway, and her mother had said several times over that no one should depend on a man. She would know. 

            She suddenly burst into speed, furiously swimming away from the city as fast as she could. She needed to clear her mind, concentrate only on going faster, feel the currents whiz past her face. 

            Suddenly the ground disappeared and she stopped, her heart pounding. The ground had given way to a huge cliff…more like an underwater canyon. Quickly she swam back to where she could see the sand beneath her, and went low so she could actually touch it. Lying on her stomach on the sand, she put her fingers over the edge and peered over the abyss. 

            It was a deep trench, so deep she couldn't see the bottom. _Freaky, _she thought, shivering. _Wonder if anyone's been here before…_Something shiny caught her eye, just a few feet below her, perhaps caught on a rock. Kagome bravely swallowed and dove down. Thoughts of big sea monsters and a green hand pulling her down to the bottom almost scared the wits out of her. Her hands closed around something hard and cold. She grabbed it in a tight grip and swam up as fast as she could. Even that short distance into the trench was scary. 

            Heart pounding, she threw the object on the sand. It looked like half a plaque of metal, perhaps steel, etched with words. Bits of grime or dirt covered the words. Kagome cleaned the plague with sand. When she read the words, or what was left of them, her jaw dropped. 

_Certificate of registration of Olymp—_

_Never a finer ship had been crafte—_

_May she journey well through the waters of—_

She could hardly believe it.

"Oh my gosh. This is Inu-Yasha's ship." 

*          *          *

            "Inu-Yasha!" 

            He looked up from his attempts to annoy a sea urchin near the gates of the city. "Hey, Kagome—ouch!" Looks like he succeeded. Inu-Yasha stood up and brushed his hands on his pants. "What are you holding?" 

            Kagome wheezed as she swam towards him, carrying a shiny looking thing. "Read…this…" she forced out. After she thrust it in his hands, she arched her back and just floated in the water. "Agh, I'm dead beat. I didn't know I swam that far, and that thing's quite heavy too." 

            Inu-Yasha read it and he looked like he'd been slapped with a flounder. "Kagome, this is Olympia's. I just know it. I can feel it, right there, in my very marrow, traveling through my veins—" 

            "Yeah, and it says right there, too, you dope. And it can't be in your marrow _and _traveling through your veins at the same time."

            "Well, it only says Olym. It could've been the Olympus ship, you know. Or Olympo." 

            She waved her hand impatiently. "No energy for useless arguments. Just tell me if I'm right. Is it your dad's ship?" 

            "This is the plaque, yes…" Almost tenderly Inu-Yasha brushed the surface with his palm. "Where'd you find it?" 

            "Hanging off a jagged rock at a deep trench I found…" her voice trailed off when she realized what she'd said. 

Inu-Yasha's expression didn't change. It seemed he'd already known the news was going to be bad. "Did you see the ship?" 

            "No, the trench was really deep, I couldn't see anything below," Kagome winced. If the ship had sunk, it had fallen so deep no mermaid would have seen it. She wasn't going to admit to Inu-Yasha she thought his ship was most likely a pile of dust and debris now, but it looked like he knew. 

That didn't stop him from being determined, though. "I want to see." 

            Go down in that deep trench? Was he serious? "Okay," Kagome said, smiling brightly. "Good luck." She started to inch away, but Inu-Yasha grabbed her arm. 

            "What do you mean good luck? You're coming with me. I can't go alone." _He's scared too, _Kagome thought, half touched and half glad. She asked, "Well, what about Miroku?" 

            "Oh yeah…Miroku…this is as important to him as it is to me. But he's in the library, fixing up a row of bookshelves Sango knocked over because he was flirting around. The librarians won't let him go." Inu-Yasha paced around, thinking. "I can't wait that long for him. We have to go now. We can check it out for him, then he can come and see for himself." He tugged on Kagome's arm. "Lead the way, mermaid." 

            "I'm _tired_," she wheedled, but then Inu-Yasha looked at her with teasing eyes. "If you're tired, you can always rest. Just give me directions and I'll ask the princess if she would help me, you know, like give me an escort or something." 

            She punched him. "You're evil, you know that? Fine. Let go of my arm. I'll take you there." Swimming ahead of Inu-Yasha, she led him out of the mermaid city towards the trench, perhaps toward the end of Inu-Yasha's search. 

*          *          *

            "That's…pretty deep," Inu-Yasha commented intelligently. 

            "Uh huh." Kagome pointed down at the jagged rock a few feet below. "That's where the plaque was. If it was nailed to the side of the ship as you say, then the ship must have scraped the rock on the way down." 

            Inu-Yasha leaned down and dropped the long coils of a glowing rope onto the ground. Before leaving the city, Kagome had asked for special lights that the explorers used for excursions. The rope would help them find their way around, give them light, and lead them back up when they were finished. They had an elastic quality so they could circle the mercity ten times and still work. "So, where do I put this?" 

            Kagome took one end, which had a large metal hook attached to it, and forced it into the edge of the trench. Inu-Yasha kicked it in. "You ready?" Kagome asked Inu-Yasha. He nodded. She considered zooming out of there, but she had to admit, she was getting kind of curious. Still scared, but curious. 

            Inu-Yasha located the end of the rope and gave a few meters to Kagome for her to tie around her waist. He then tied it around him beside her. "Let's go," he said.

            Kagome swallowed. Slowly they swam away from the ground and downwards, into the big gaping void with the ruin that was Inu-Yasha's only connection to the past. And if she weren't terrified at the moment, she would slap herself for being that cheesy. 

            "Are you cold?" Inu-Yasha muttered in a low voice. It echoed around the walls, sounding eerie and hollow. 

            If she said no, then it would be obvious that she was scared. And she _lived _in water, she shouldn't be the scared one. But then she couldn't say it was cold, because like fish, mermaids' body temperatures altered slightly to suit the water. It would take icy waters in the polar caps to make her feel the tinge. "No," she sighed.      

            Inu-Yasha smirked. "Scared of the dark?" 

            "Hey! It's creepy down there—here—okay?" she shot back defensively. "And look at that, your fingers are trembling." 

            "Feh. I'm human—I'm cold," he explained. 

            "Liar—I can feel your knees knocking." 

            "That's because I'm swimming, genius." 

            "I can hear your teeth chattering." 

            "That would be because I'm _cold." _

            Kagome shook her head. "Gosh, you're such a whiner," she said, imitating his smirk. Inu-Yasha realized what he'd said and started to protest, but Kagome giggled. 

            The good thing about them arguing was that it took Kagome's mind off sinking down to the very bottom of the ocean—at least for a little while. 

            It was a good thing the breath of life transferred more than just breath to the person—Inu-Yasha had also received some of the merpeoples' abilities and wasn't affected by water pressure, so his head wouldn't explode in the water. 

            "See the bottom yet?" he asked. 

            Kagome squinted. "Nope." They'd been swimming for quite a while now. How deep did this damn trench go?

            "Hmm…I didn't think it would be so deep." Inu-Yasha said, staring down into nothing. "I wonder if maybe they had time to escape before it sank…"

            Kagome put one of her hands over his. He hadn't been lying, his fingers were icy. "If they were sailors, I'm sure they escaped," she said, though inside she wasn't so sure. 

            "If they did, they'd have found us by now," he muttered. "I just can't think…while me and Miroku were up there on the streets, our dads were this far down…and we had no idea." 

            "Stop making it so depressing," Kagome said, not knowing what else to say. "You don't know yet, you have no idea." _You won't know until we see bones, she almost added, but decided to keep it to herself. It probably wasn't the best thing to say. She squeezed the hand she was holding, and they swam the rest of the way in silence. _

            They were about ten meters from the ground when they actually saw it, thanks to the light. Inu-Yasha stood on the ground while Kagome hovered beside him. "Right…now what?" he asked, surveying the area around them. Pure sandy ground stretched out to the darkness. 

            "Well…we swim forwards, I guess," Kagome said. So that's what they did.

            It wasn't long before strips of rotted wood began littering the ground, eventually growing bigger in size, and more debris of rusted metal and all sorts of things covered the ground. While Kagome was still examining a badly rusted candlestick on the ground, Inu-Yasha tore his eye away from a door on the ground and looked up. 

            "Oh my God." 

            Kagome looked up as well. "Oh," she breathed softly. 

            In front of them was a huge, rotting mass of wood, roughly shaped like a large ship. Huge chunks of it were ripped away, and all that remained was a broken skeleton. 

            Inu-Yasha swam closer to it, and since Kagome was tied to the same rope, she had to follow. He went up to the front of the ship, where a decayed figure was proudly attached. "Sakai, the mermaid figurehead," he said quietly. "Miroku's dad insisted it should be a big, busty mermaid. Like father, like son. My dad got to name her, though. He named her after my mother. She died when I was really small. But I'm babbling, I suppose." 

            "I'm sorry," Kagome whispered. Inu-Yasha's hand was still on the decayed mermaid's tail. Inu-Yasha's face was white—maybe even whiter than it actually was, since the greenish glow made everyone's face look sickly. But even Inu-Yasha's expression was twisted. 

            He shrugged. "Doesn't really matter, I guess. None of this stuff really matters. I mean, I've already accepted that everything—'cept Miroku, of course—is dead to me. I wasn't holding on to anything, really." 

            He was lying through his teeth. Kagome didn't want to confront him, though. Instead she took his hand again. "Come on," she said softly. "Let's look inside." 

            They swam through the holes until they were inside the ship. Inu-Yasha looked around, guided only by the glow of the rope. "This is definitely Olympia. I think I know where we are." He touched a wall—or what was left of it. "This is the captain's room. And right behind—just over there—was the kitchen. Miroku used to nearly burn the ship down whenever it was his night to cook," he smiled slightly at the memory. "Which is probably why I love ramen so much." 

            Kagome was only half listening. A shadow had just flickered over on the opposite wall, as if something had just swum by. But it couldn't have been anything…it was probably just her tail or Inu-Yasha's arm as he gestured around. 

            "…And right near here was the mop closet…they all used to lock me in here for hours at end…"

            Something flickered again. This time, Kagome could feel the water currents change. They came unevenly, as if something was swimming through them. She was beginning to feel a tingling in her fingers. Her heart was pounding. "Um…Inu-Yasha…" quivering fingers reached out to tap her arm. 

            "What?" Inu-Yasha turned to look at her. "Oh hey, what's this?" he spotted something on the ground a meter away and began to swim toward it. 

            Kagome frantically grabbed at his sleeve. "Inu-Yasha don't move!" she hissed frantically. Her heart was pounding in her ears now. The light flickered again, and this time a great looming shadow covered the opposite wall. 

            Inu-Yasha, his back to it, was staring at her curiously. "Kagome, what is it?" he asked, worry creeping into his tone. "Kagome?" 

            Kagome didn't answer, because she was staring eye-to-eye with the biggest great white shark she'd ever seen.   



	7. Reasons

AN: It's done? Oh my god, it's actually done! Slightly shorter than usual (well…average I guess) but it's done. Sometimes I think it's going too fast, other times I think maybe it's just the strange feeling of returning to fluff…haven't written fluff in awhile…anyway in either case the speed can't be helped….I planned the story for 12 +/- 2 chapters and I can't stretch it any further, and I don't want to. Um…enjoy the chapter ^^. 

Reasons

            Inu-Yasha so did not like the look on Kagome's face. 

            "There's…there's something behind me, isn't there?" he said in a low voice. 

            "Yes," she whispered in a squeak, not diverting her eyes. 

            "Something big and monstrous?" 

            "Uh-huh." 

            "With loads of sharp teeth?" 

            "Looks like it." 

            "Right." Inu-Yasha took a deep breath. "If we move slowly it won't bug us…" Slowly he drifted toward her. 

            Kagome's face turned a shade whiter. "Inu-Yasha! Don't move!" But the shark's eyes had now slid towards Inu-Yasha, watching him move ever so slowly towards her. 

            "It's okay," he said soothingly, reaching her and taking her arm. If we swim really slowly, it won't disturb us." Very carefully he shrugged out of the loosely tied light rope around his waist. Kagome did the same, though she a sinking feeling of what Inu-Yasha was planning to do. The shark still watched its prey curiously. 

Once the rope was off, Inu-Yasha smiled brightly. "That wasn't so bad, see? So let's just inch on by and _get the hell out of here!_" he finished with a yell, grabbing Kagome's arm and shooting out of the wreckage. 

            Immediately the shark pounced, snapping at where they'd just been. Kagome couldn't help screaming as she swam furiously through the bars of wood, dragging Inu-Yasha along, since she was obviously the stronger swimmer. 

            "Down!" Inu-Yasha yelled. Kagome immediately dove downward to the bottom of the ship. "Out!" Inu-Yasha yelled. Kagome changed her direction and shot forward, the shark still nipping at Inu-Yasha's heels. 

            Inu-Yasha kicked at it furiously—the shark was close enough for him to bonk his nose with his foot…that is, if he wanted to lose his foot to the shark. Kagome was doing all the swimming, while he was the one yelling, "Skat! Shoo! Skidaddle! There ain't nuthin' to see here, boy," or something similar to that anyway. 

            "Inu-Yasha!" Kagome screamed. 

            He looked up. A huge rusted metal bar was flying his way. He caught one end just as the other fell on his head. "Ow…" he groaned, his vision crowded with bright yellow stars. "What was that for?"     

            "So you'd be actually useful for something," she shot back, nearly sending him flying into debris as she made a sharp turn. 

            He rolled his eyes. "I am useful." He held the bar up and waved one of his feet toward the shark. "Hey, you, wanna try some of this? I'm pretty tasty." He snickered and Kagome muttered something like 'useful yeah right.' 

            The shark put on more speed and opened his mouth, revealing rows and rows of sharp teeth. Inu-Yasha was close enough so he could stare inside, transfixed. "Whoa, it's like an army of teeth monsters," he commented, amazed. "Wonder how much that would hurt?" 

            "Inu-Yasha!" Kagome screamed again. "Do something, he's going to bite your legs off!" 

            Her voice made Inu-Yasha spring into action. Quickly he brought the bar down as hard as he could on the shark's nose. It fell behind, shaking its head furiously and roaring at the pain. 

            At that moment Kagome shot out of the wreckage and out to somewhat open sea. The shark was still within the ship. She stopped abruptly to catch her breath. "Phew, that was way too close…Inu-Yasha, what have you been eating? You're a lot heavier than I remembered." 

            Inu-Yasha was rubbing his head. "Hey, it's all muscle, don't tell me I'm—"

            The shark burst through the wooden side of the ship, charging straight into their direction. Kagome grabbed Inu-Yasha's arm again and swam to the only place she had an advantage in—back in _Olympia_. 

            "Look," she said breathlessly as she wove through the ship again. "We have to think of a plan!" 

            "Yeah, we do." Inu-Yasha waved the bar menacingly in the shark's direction. The shark snapped his teeth very closely to his pants. "Um, Kagome, are you slowing down?" 

            She put on an extra burst of speed, but it was difficult to do. "I can't swim with you dragging me down," she panted, darting into another room. 

            "Oh, so you're just going to drop me off to become shark fodder? I don't like that plan," Inu-Yasha said as he swiped at the water. 

            "If I don't let go of you we're both going to die," she said. Inu-Yasha raised his eyebrow and started to object about his apparent abandonment. "Hold on tightly." His protest turned into a loud yell as she suddenly shot upwards through a hole in the ship. The shark followed, tearing an even bigger hole into it. 

            Kagome swam alongside the cliff a couple of meters from the ground. "When I say let go, let go," she said, twisting and turning this way and that to move out of the shark's grasp. Hide behind the boulder and _don't move at all_. I'll distract him while you think of something."    

            "Wait, wait—too much! What boulder?" 

            "Let go!!" 

            Inu-Yasha immediately let go and into a tiny space between a boulder and the cliff side, way above the ground. _Hey, cool, so this is what she meant—aaah!_ Water rushed around him furiously as the shark swam by. "Kagome!" he shouted, ready to swim after her. Then he remembered—_don't move at all. Think of something. _

            What was he supposed to think of? 

            He peeked out from behind the boulder. Kagome was swimming back towards the wreckage, dodging each snap of the shark's mouth. Inu-Yasha's heart began to beat even faster. He had to think of something now or else Kagome would die. She was already tiring, and her dodges were already becoming more desperate. _Think, Inu-Yasha, think…you can't let anything happen to her…_

            He looked down at the metal bar in his hand. He measured its width, then looked at the shark.

            Okay, he'd thought of something. But it wasn't a very good idea. 

            "Hey, shark, over here!" he yelled, waving one arm over his head and banging the boulder with the iron bar. The shark stopped swimming and turned towards Inu-Yasha's direction. "Yeah, bozo. Come here. She's too skinny, not a good meal. Get me instead! Wooo! Come on, you big stupid thing!" 

            The shark probably didn't understand the words, but it seemed to know when it was being insulted. Kagome stared at him, bewildered, then yelled, "When I said think of something I didn't say change the eating order!" 

            Inu-Yasha kept making huge moves, to attract the shark's attention. "Yeah, you know you want to, you moron!" he shouted. "What are you, a man or a shark?" 

            Kagome cringed.           

            But it was okay, because the shark fell for it. Or rather, it wasn't okay, because now it was headed straight for Inu-Yasha. 

            Inu-Yasha held the bar in both hands now as the shark advanced toward him. His heart was pounding in his ears. He only had one chance to do this…

            The shark's mouth burst open as he prepared to swallow Inu-Yasha whole. Milliseconds afterward, Inu-Yasha's arms shot out and stuck the bar into the big, ugly, teethy void vertically, so that he couldn't close his mouth. 

            Inu-Yasha breathed a sigh of relief as the shark reeled back, making a high-pitched, strangled sound. It fought to close its mouth but found it impossible because of the iron. _Oh, thank the gods, I did it. Do I still have both my arms? One, two. Okay. Everything's intact. Gooood.   _

But the shark wasn't finished with him yet. It shot towards him, looking even scarier with a big piece of metal in its mouth. Inu-Yasha barely had time to duck into the hole as the shark crashed into the stone just above him. 

            Suddenly Kagome was there, and she swiped the shark angrily with her tail. The harsh skin of the shark made slight scratches on her delicate scales, and this the shark could smell. "Come after me," she said, swiping again. Then she darted off. The shark gave the equivalent of a snarl and shot after her. 

            "Inu-Yasha!" he could hear her voice faintly as she continued her dance with the shark. "Start pushing the boulder. When I say now, push it over the edge, okay? Push!" 

            He didn't question the orders, and immediately began pushing the boulder. He turned his back on it and pushed with his feet against the cliff. Slowly the boulder began to move from its firm position. Inu-Yasha turned around and placed his arms on it, just as it was close to the edge. "Now?" he asked, wincing with the effort of trying to hold a giant rock—even if it was underwater. 

            "Wait!" He heard Kagome below him. 

            He really couldn't hold on much longer. "Now?!" 

            There was a pause from below. For a brief moment Inu-Yasha panicked and thought the shark had swallowed her alive, until he heard her scream, "_Now!_" 

            With a grunt Inu-Yasha shoved the boulder off—and it fell, rolling down the pile of rocks, until it hit something with a small thud and hit the ground with an even louder thud. There was silence. A really long one.

            His eyes widened. "Oh my god…_Kagome!!!_" He had loosed the rock too soon. Now Kagome was crushed under the boulder and he had just signed his own death sentence. He yelled again, "Kagome!" 

            From the bottom, a weary voice said, "Um…that wasn't me." 

            Inu-Yasha had never been more relieved to hear a person's voice, especially hers. Quickly he swam down to the bottom, where a cloud of sand was settling. 

            Kagome emerged from the cloud and threw her arms around him. "Inu-Yasha, we did it! We actually made it! Of course, I thought you were nuts when you were yelling at the shark but then—" she was silenced when Inu-Yasha's own arms encircled her body and pulled her tightly to her. 

            "That…" Inu-Yasha began shakily, "Was the _freakiest _thing I've ever gone through." He was speaking into her hair. "You know, when you told me to let go I thought you were leaving me for dead." 

            Kagome laughed. It felt so good to laugh, now that the danger was over. "I'd never do that," she said softly. "I saved your life, remember? And all that work would go to waste." 

            "Yeah…" He was still holding her close to him. "I wouldn't leave you either…I mean, I could have just swum up and left you here, but I didn't." 

            She grinned. "No, of course you wouldn't. You were very heroic back there…even though I ultimately saved the day." 

            "What? No way! I'm the one who pushed the rock. I—" Suddenly Inu-Yasha broke off. The hands on her back flew up around his throat, as he tried to breathe but drew water. He reeled backwards, choking. 

            Kagome realized it had been a long time since he'd received the breath, and with these past incidents they'd forgotten it completely. Quickly pulled him down towards him and put her lips on his. She breathed into him, long enough for him to stop his struggling and to get back to breathing normally.  

            When Kagome thought he'd gotten enough, she tried to pull back. But she realized that Inu-Yasha's arms had returned back to her waist and were holding her against him. And his lips were still on hers, but no breath was passing between their lips. 

            _Oh my god…he's kissing me. _

            One of his hands reached up and gently brushed away the strands of hair floating around her face. With that one touch Kagome felt shivers run down her spine. She liked how it felt. She wrapped her arms tighter around him and smiled against his lips as his kisses grew deeper. Her hands roamed upwards and tangled themselves in his hair. 

            He broke away from her lips and down to her neck. Kagome arched her neck and let out a small sigh. She heard him whisper her name against her skin. She kissed the top of his head, burying her face in the cloud of soft silvery hair. She peered dreamily past his head at the wall, where she saw their shadows intertwined—

            —Except at the bottom, where two of his feet were visible, and so was the tip of her tail. 

            Kagome's eyes widened just as Inu-Yasha was returning back to her lips. "No," she said hoarsely as his lips touched hers again. Their closeness was too tempting for her to just forget about it and go back to kissing him, so she pushed him away. It felt like her own hand was going against her will, the way she halfheartedly nudged him away. 

            Inu-Yasha's eyes were open now, and confused. "Did you just say no?" he asked. 

            "Yes." 

            He frowned. "Why? Was I doing something wrong?" 

            "No," Kagome said immediately. This made Inu-Yasha even more confused. "Then why can't I—" he reached towards her again to hook his arm around her waist. 

            She drifted backwards. "Yes, I mean. Yes, you were doing something wrong. No, not with the kissing," she said quickly when he opened his mouth. "No, that was, um, great." It had been better than great. She wanted more than anything to return to that, but the shadow kept bugging her and reminding her of why she was stopping. "I mean, this whole thing. You and me. Man and mermaid. Forbidden, remember?" 

            Inu-Yasha was bewildered. "You're going to let a law stop us from being together?" 

            "Inu-Yasha. The law is there for a reason," Kagome said, this time her voice harder. 

            He stopped and realized what she was talking about. 

            "It's not just that…you aren't staying here. As soon as Miroku helps Sango out you have to return to land with Rin. You can't return after that." Kagome's throat tightened. "Ever." 

            "Then I won't leave you," he said, for the briefest moment thinking of one of Miroku's romance novels. "I've broken the law hundreds of times, I've—" 

            "Mom says that's exactly what my father said, that he'd never leave." Kagome said tightly. "Even if you wanted to stay, you couldn't. You can't stay in the mercity, even with the permanent breath of life. And these are laws you can't break." 

            He looked at her coldly. "You sound like you don't want to be with me at all," he said accusingly. 

            "I don't!" Kagome shot back. "I don't and I can't!"                    

            "Then why were you kissing me back?" 

            She looked extremely frustrated. If she had feet, she probably would have stomped her foot. "Inu-Yasha! I don't want to be with you because I can't! It would save us a lot of heart break of you just accepted that. Look," she took a deep breath. "We were just caught in the heat of the moment. We had just killed the king of sharks. We were giddy. So when I gave you the breath, one thing led to another and then…it doesn't mean anything at all." The lie flew out of her mouth before her throat tightened and she tried determinedly not to cry. 

            He was scowling now. "Well, if that's what it is to you, then I'm sorry I ever started it. But you know," he added rather angrily, "I'm not the one going around kissing people's foreheads when they're sleeping." 

            Kagome blushed. So much for being positively sure he was knocked out.

            "Please," she said quietly, so Inu-Yasha barely heard her. "I can't speak for you, but don't make me fall in love with you. I don't want to go through what happened to my mother."

            Inu-Yasha desperately pulled out his wild card. "Don't you think you're going a bit too far here?" he asked. "I mean, your parents' relationship was deep. I'm not thinking of marrying you or having children with you or anything. I just want to be with you. Is _that _against the law?" 

            He was making this very, very difficult. "Any sort of relationship is forbidden," Kagome insisted. "It might start off small, but then it could turn into something huge, and—" 

            "Kagome." he interrupted her. "You kissed me back. Are you just going to...to float there and lie to me?" Well, he couldn't say 'stand' could he? "Were you just teasing or did you really mean it?"

            She glared at him. He was accusing her of teasing him? Trying to do the right thing did not define teasing in her book. "Of course I meant it," she snapped. "I wouldn't be here torturing myself if I didn't—" 

            She stopped as Inu-Yasha moved closer to her, lowering his face so that he was level with her. His closeness made it hard for her to breathe. She wanted to move away, to try once again to tell him they couldn't have a relationship, but her hand was betraying her, reaching for his, and her eyes were betraying her, eyeing his lips…      

            "Then screw the law," Inu-Yasha whispered. 

            Kagome closed her eyes. No, she had to argue, she had to say that those nice feathery kisses down her cheek were _not right_, that those arms did not belong around her waist…

            ..Ah, she could argue with him later…

            No, NOW. 

            "Inu-Yasha," she forced out. "I mean it. Let go or I'm going to slap you. With my tail. It hurts a lot more that way." 

            "What are you so uptight about?" he burst out suddenly. "It's just kissing, it's not anything else!" 

            Kagome's jaw dropped, and Inu-Yasha was beginning to think that was the wrong thing to say. "Oh, so it's just kissing?" she repeated. "You call me a tease then say it's just kissing? Hmph! I can't believe you!" 

            She was _so _baffling. 

            "Well, what else would it be?" he asked. "We were kissing, it's not like I was throwing you on the sand and…doing other things." 

            Two bright spots appeared on Kagome's cheeks. "You…you…arrggh!" She took a few deep breaths. "None of this is allowed. No kissing, no hugging, no doing other things!"

            She broke away from him and began swimming upwards beside the rope. "I can't do this," she said, loud enough for him to hear. "Inu-Yasha, you have to understand. It would never work out." She had nearly disappeared from his sight when she added, "I'll meet you when you reach the top. I just need time to think."         She'd just left him…left kissing…to go up and think. 

            Riiight.  

*          *          *

            Kagome had indeed been waiting, though she refused to speak a word to him all until they were near the mercity. The long trip seemed even longer with the silence and having to swim so far when they were dead beat. Inu-Yasha lagged behind slightly, the light rope messily wrapped around his body. 

            Some of what she'd said was true, though. He'd surprised himself when he started kissing her (that is, after his body started breathing in oxygen again and he wasn't gulping like a suffocating fish), he hadn't meant to do it at all. It sort of was in the heat of the moment, as she put it. He supposed it was a combination of feeling incredibly happy at still being alive, the panic of not being able to breathe and then finally being able to, her arms around his neck, her lips on his, and the fact that she was warm though it had been very, very cold down there…plus the attraction-that-was-already-there…what man wouldn't want to kiss her after all that? 

            And she kissed him back. Inu-Yasha scowled at her, swimming ahead of him. You couldn't kiss someone back and then say stop it's wrong we shouldn't do it blah blah blah…

            She was just going to pretend it never happened. 

            Aw, hell no. 

            "Admit it," he called out to her. "You felt something back there." 

            Her shoulders grew rigid. "Yes, I did. I felt that something was terribly wrong and I should put it all behind me." 

            "You're just going to lie about it?" 

            "Lie about what?"

            He scowled. "Don't play stupid." 

            She whirled around, but kept swimming backwards. "I am _not _playing stupid," she argued. 

            "Yes you are. Your last two answers have been incredibly stupid." 

            "You are such a jerk!" 

            "You're even worse," he shot back. "At least I'm not pretending." 

            Kagome's face was so furious she looked ready to lash at him and try to tear his eyes out. But he didn't care, he was angrier. "What is it going to take for you to understand?" she said through gritted teeth. 

            "Explain it to me, then. All you've said was, 'Oh, it's not allowed, we'll break the law, and I know you'll leave me' and all that crud. That's not a real explanation." 

            "Fine," she said shortly. "Say we did hook up." 

            "Okay." 

            "Then it grew into something deeper, like love. Real love. Where we'd want to marry each other and spend the rest of our lives together." 

            "I think you're taking this too far—" 

            "No! Listen to me! Say it happened. Then what would happen after that? The king is not going to let you stay in the mercity, but he would readily banish me. I've already got a black mark over my head because of my father leaving, he's got every reason to cast me out. And then where would we go? I can't go to land, you can't stay in the water unless you've got the permanent breath—this isn't your habitat, it will eventually do damage to you, you know—and I wouldn't want any harm to come to you. So I'd send you back on land, and you'd continue your life there while I wander around wasting away." 

            "Kagome, what makes you think we'll be falling so deeply enough we'd have to resort to _that_—" 

            "Because I'm starting to!" she snapped. 

            That shut Inu-Yasha up. 

            "You've done so much for me since you came. You've made me laugh, fought for me, been concerned about me, and I really like you. I don't know if it's love yet, but I like you. I'm not going to deny anything. I want to kiss you and do all that and hug you but if you think forward, it's just going to cause a lot of pain and if you get any closer, Inu-Yasha, I'm going to force feed you live octopus." While she'd been talking, Inu-Yasha had been drifting closer and closer until they were about an arm's width apart. 

            "Would it hurt that much to love me?" he asked. 

            She glared at him. "Have you even been _listening_?" 

            "I was in the beginning, but when you started babbling about pain and threatening me with your food I tuned out." 

            "Inu-Yasha. My mother went through it all, so I know how it's going to end up. The king told me how much it hurt her—"  

            "Does she hate him?" he asked suddenly. 

            Kagome raised her eyebrow. "What?" 

            "You heard me. When she talks about him does she look really mad, or start swearing, or basically say anything bad about him?" 

            "Well…no, but she doesn't have to, she—" 

            "And what about Sango and Miroku? How come no one is jumping on their case?" 

            She fidgeted. "The whole community knows it's only to get Naraku off her back. It's different!" 

            She tried to swim away, but Inu-Yasha grabbed her arm. "Look," he said, while staring deep into her eyes, "What do _you _want?" 

            "I want you to let go of me—" 

            "No. Listen first because you answer. Forget about the king, the law, Sango and Miroku, everything. Just what do _you _want?" 

            Her shoulders slumped. Inu-Yasha wasn't going to leave until she told him the truth that he already knew. "I want to be with you," she murmured in defeat. 

            "And?"

            "And…to go to sleep." 

            Inu-Yasha was slightly thrown off. And it started off so nicely, too…but he saw Kagome's whole body was dragging, and her eyes were drooping. He remembered with a twinge of guilt that he'd made her take him down the abyss (using Kikyo as a threat! Oh, what kind of a terrible monster was he?) and she'd had to fight a great white shark. He recalled her saying mermaids only needed to sleep occasionally…well this must be one of those occasions. 

            "Lean on me and go to sleep," he suggested, pulling her towards him. "I'll take us back to city." 

            Kagome laughed weakly. "You're just trying to take advantage of me," she whispered, though she made no move to go away. It was amazing how once she allowed sleep to take over her body it turned into lead so quickly. 

            "Woman, there's a time to talk and a time to shut up." He grabbed the floating ends of the glowing rope in one hand and held Kagome with the other. She wrapped her arms around his neck and snuggled into his shoulder. "Thanks," she mumbled. 

            Inu-Yasha swam the rest of the way slowly, careful not to move too jarringly so he wouldn't wake her. When they reached the city borders he tapped her gently on the shoulder. "Kagome, we're here," he whispered. 

            The grip around his shoulders strengthened. He felt Kagome stir, and a soft voice in his ear breathed, "Maybe…just for a little while wouldn't hurt…right?" She pressed her face against his neck. "I mean…well…I'm kind of scared…I know even saying for a little while could lead to something bigger…but I'm willing to try it. Are you?" 

            Inu-Yasha looked down at her. "Yeah," he said gently, bending down to kiss her top of her head. "Just for a little while." 


	8. A Change In Tides

AN: Yay, I finished it! Apologies if it's a bit choppy, and if Kaede just sprang out of the blue. I'm planning to do a major edit on the past chapters, like the Sango/Naraku subplot I'm changing completely, and I'll try to mention Kaede earlier. It's just than I haven't written on this for so long I've forgotten a lot of stuff. Well…so here the plot sort of goes somewhere…Bah. Just read it please ;) And I'll get to work on the next chapter straight away. Oh yes, and [plug] my new Waste of Time, Befuddled, is up! Check it out, next chapter out soon [/plug] And early thanks to those who decided to stick with the story, even after the way. Love ya much! Enjoy this chapter.

A Change in Tides

When Inu-Yasha returned home, Sango and Miroku knew something was different. The blush on Kagome's cheeks seemed permanent, and Inu-Yasha seemed to be staring everywhere else but at Kagome. Sango had a feeling that something had happened between them; immediately her narrowed eyes scanned for swollen lips, or hickeys…hmm, Kagome was hiding it very well. She decided to confront Kagome at night, to prevent embarrassing them.

Miroku, however, was not as thoughtful. "Did you guys, like, make out or something?"

Kagome turned even redder and squeaked, "N-n-no, what makes you think that? Really, Miroku, you're so stupid." She laughed over-loudly, but stopped when she realized that no one was buying it.

"Really, Miroku, that's the dumbest thing you've said yet." Inu-Yasha coughed, still not meeting anyone's else and looking intently at a piece of algae on the sidewalk. When he realized that his words might have sounded too nice to constitute a real conversation between him and Miroku, he added hastily, "I mean, compared with all the stupid stuff you've said, this one takes the cake." Silence. "…You stupid bastard."

"Ah," Miroku said. More silence. "So you _did _make out then?"

"No, we didn't!" Inu-Yasha and Kagome cried angrily in unison.

"Well then _what _did you do?" Miroku asked, as if the two could not have possibly done anything else together.

His best friend glared at him. "As a matter of fact, we went down to a deep abyss, saw _Olympia_, and nearly got eaten by a shark."

Miroku's face turned white. "Say that part again?"

"Got eaten by a shark?"

"No, before it."

"Down a deep abyss?"

"No, dammit, that part about _Olympia_!" Miroku yelled.

Inu-Yasha finally raised his eyes from the algae. "All that's left is the skeleton of the ship," Inu-Yasha said quietly. "Just old, decaying wood. And…and no bones. Well I didn't see any, but our viewing time was cut short."

The jovial look on Miroku's face was gone. "And you just decided to go and see it without me? Did you forget that it was my father's ship too? Geez, Inu-Yasha!"

"I was going to ask you, but you were busy cleaning up whatever mess you'd made, as usual!" Inu-Yasha growled defensively. "It's your own damn fault you keep getting in trouble!"

"I would have waited for you," Miroku said in a low tone.

"Yeah? Well I would have died of old age waiting for _you_," Inu-Yasha said scathingly.

They glared at each other, mermaids beside them watching uneasily. Miroku's jaw twitched. "I want to go see her," he said quietly.

"You can't. There's a shark down there. Kagome and I buried it, but we don't know if it's dead or not."

"Screw the shark! _Olympia__'s _down there and I want to go see her."

"Are you crazy?" Inu-Yasha snapped. "You just _want _to get yourself ki—"

"You can take a shark hunter with you when you go," a soft voice interrupted them. They both looked at Kagome. She avoided Inu-Yasha's questioning look and continued. "Just to be sure, take a shark hunter with you. I'll tell Sango where it is."

Miroku smiled tightly at Kagome. "Thanks a lot. You act like my friend even more than my best friend does."

Inu-Yasha threw up his hands. "Fine. Go get yourself killed. I hope he has you for dinner, moron." He turned to Sango. "Not you. I hope you get away. I don't have anything against you."

"Um…thanks?" was all Sango could say.

With a final, angry glare at Miroku, Inu-Yasha turned and swam into the house. Kagome quickly told Sango where the abyss was. "Be really careful," she pleaded when Sango made to go. "I wouldn't want you to go, except I know how much it means to Miroku."

Sango smiled. "I'll be fine. If you can bury a shark, so can I." Her eyes twinkled. "And you're going to tell me everything tonight. I _know _you and Inu-Yasha did more than swim around an old ship."

Kagome just shook her head. After a final goodbye to the two of them, she swam into her house.

Inu-Yasha was sitting on a coral couch, sulking. When he saw Kagome, he folded his arms over his chest crossly. "Traitor," he muttered.

She sat down beside him. "Look at me," she said.

"You were supposed to be on my side," he continued, still refusing to meet her eyes.

Kagome sighed and grabbed his chin. With a sharp jerk she made him look at her. "There were no sides, dummy," she said softly. "Answer me truthfully: if you had been in Miroku's place, would you have just sat by knowing that Miroku had seen your ship?" The sullen look in his eyes was his answer. "Miroku has every right to see _Olympia__._" She released his chin.

He scowled. "Yeah, whatever, but he didn't have to go and accuse me! He—"

She flicked his forehead—hard. He froze in mid-sentence as the pain exploding through his head silenced him. "Let it be," she said. You can apologize when he gets back."

"_If _he comes back," Inu-Yasha muttered. "If he already isn't shark fodder."

Kagome giggled. "I think with Sango and a shark hunter Miroku will come back more or less unscathed." She wrapped her arms around his neck and touched her nose to his. "You're not angry, are you?" she whispered.

Inu-Yasha tried to think straight. "At you? No. Aargh, I don't care anymore. It was a stupid argument."

She smiled, then leaned forward and kissed him. It was very soft; her lips barely grazed his. Inu-Yasha shifted on the couch so that he could hold her against him. She kissed him again, this time harder and longer—

"Yoo-hoo, Kagome-chan, I'm home—_oh_!"

Kagome sprang away from Inu-Yasha. "Ma!" she cried, her face a shade of red Inu-Yasha didn't know existed. "We were just, uhm…" She turned to Inu-Yasha, who shrugged helplessly. "Talking," she finished lamely.

Her mother was at the doorway, holding bags of groceries. Rin stood at her side, innocently munching on a bag of jellyfish beans.

"I see I was interrupting something," Kagome's mother said, her expression serious. "Kagome, will you help me put these groceries away?" Her tone sounded casual, but held an underlying tone that implied Kagome should obey.

Kagome ducked her head. She cast a small glance at Inu-Yasha before getting up and following her mother in to the kitchen. Rin trotted towards Inu-Yasha and offered him some jellyfish beans.

"Thanks," he mumbled, reaching into the bag and pulling out a handful.

"So," Rin said chirpily, "Are you and Kagome gonna get married?"

"What? No!" Inu-Yasha cried, and to prevent himself from saying anything else, stuffed the entire handful of jellyfish beans into his mouth. They were sweet but extremely chewey.

Rin giggled. "But you two were kissing! My daddy used to kiss my mommy and they were married."

Inu-Yasha was still chomping determinedly on the beans and refused to answer.

"Oh, careful, don't swallow them all at once," Rin warned, just as Inu-Yasha gulped the mouthful down. "Mostly they're still alive and swim in your stomach, so it doesn't feel all that good."

Inu-Yasha froze and his eye twitched.

* * *

Kagome's mother handed her a bag and proceeded to unpack another one. She worked in brisk silence. Kagome slowly pulled out a jar of salt and set it on the kitchen table. She didn't know what to say.

Thankfully, her mother broke the tense layer of ice. But not with good news. "It won't work, Kagome," she said, swimming rapidly around the kitchen. "It can't ever work."

"Mom, I _know_," Kagome said. "That's what I told him. I know the rules as well as you do."

"I wonder if you really do," her mother said tersely. "Well, if you know the rules and you told him about them, why were you two still kissing?" And you can explain yourself now, you can say it was merely curiosity or a goodbye kiss, and I'll accept it. I'll put this whole thing to rest."

Kagome's face hardened. "No, it wasn't any of that. I kissed him because I wanted to. I did it before and I'll do it again."

Her mother sighed. "Kagome. I don't mind sheltering Inu-Yasha and Miroku until they can return to land. I think it's great that you can befriend humans. I trusted that you would be well aware of the rules. But please, and I'm serious about this…please don't fall in love with him."

"It might be too late for that," Kagome whispered.

"It will only cause you pain," her mother argued. "You know that you and Inu-Yasha can't be together."

"Well, who says I have to follow Uncle's law?" Kagome said bitterly. "It's not as if he or Kikyo have exactly looked out for us. I doubt he'd care what I did."

"Of course he'll care," her mother said. "Especially when you disregard a rule he himself decreed."

Kagome exhaled an angry stream of bubbles. "Mom. It's not marriage. Let me be with him, even for only a while. We'll think for the present and handle the future when it comes. Okay?" She swam behind her mother and wrapped her arms around her shoulders. "Pleease?"

"Oh, I don't know, Kagome. I'd forbid it right here and now but I'm not that kind of a person. I can't think for you. I just don't want to see you do…" Her mother's strained voice trailed off, and held a tinge of confusion. "I don't think it's a good idea, and I'm just asking you to back off while you can."

Her daughter moved away, her expression a mixture of hurt and indignation. "I thought out of everyone in this city you'd understand the most. How can you tell me that this is a bad idea when you couldn't hold on to your own man?" She knew the words she spoke were excessively cruel, but it was something that always lingered on her mind. She felt glad to say them, but also deep guilt.

Kagome's mother stopped unpacking. For a minute it looked as if she was going to cry. Kagome wanted to take back what she said, but something else was stirring in her—anger. Her mother dared to say Kagome couldn't be with Inu-Yasha when her own relationship had fallen in tatters, and she couldn't even tell Kagome why. Her mother couldn't hold on to her lover, and Kagome was paying the price for it. The price a fatherless child had to pay in the mercity was heavier than any fine—it was silent condemnation, softened only by the fact that she was royalty. And that just made her angrier.

"I'm tired of Uncle's dumb rules and the stuff I have to go through!" she cried. "Uncle has no right telling merpeople who they can and can't love…no one has the right to say that. I'll find a way to make it work." She swam furiously out of the kitchen, a grim look on her face.

Kagome's mother held forlornly onto her groceries, gazing sadly after her daughter. She knew the relationship was headed for disaster—it was inevitable. But Kagome was too strong-willed; she wouldn't listen to anything her mother said. She knew that she was partly to blame for Kagome's feelings.

_Kagome will just have to experience it for herself, _she decided with a heavy sigh. She would have to learn the hard way why humans and mermaids couldn't ever be together.

* * *

Inu-Yasha followed Kagome as she stormed out into the street. For a long while she just swam down the road, Inu-Yasha trailing after her as fast as he could. Then all of a sudden she stopped, and whirled around. She grabbed Inu-Yasha's hand and continued down the road, her jaw set in a grim line. All the way to the end of the street, Kagome barely said three words to him.

Yet the strange thing was that she was trying to be more affectionate with him at the same time. The sour look on her face, however, quelled any romantic feelings in Inu-Yasha. On the street, she kept holding his hand, or wrapping her arms around his waist and kissing him, much to the shock of the merpeople surrounding them,

Finally he just had to confront her when for no apparent reason, she'd grabbed his head fiercely and kissed his lips off.

"Okay, you can't kiss me _and _scowl at me at the same time," he said when she resumed swimming. "Can you tell me what the heck's going on?"

"Protest," she said shortly.

"And what does that mean?"

She glared accusingly at two old mermaids passing by, who looked like they were whispering about them. "This is my protest against my Uncle's stupid laws. Merpeople should be with whoever they want to be with, whether it's merperson, human, or seahorse."

Inu-Yasha looked doubtful. "But wouldn't that be kinda hard for them to, um, procreate?" When Kagome turned her glare on him, he quickly added, "I don't mind your protest, really, I don't. But why do I have to be your soapbox?"

"Soapbox?" Kagome sidled up to him. "Why, do you mind being my soapbox or whatever that is?" She kissed him again, long enough for the two old ladies to gasp in horror.

He frowned and untangled his lips from hers. "No, but do you think you could do it without the whole 'I love you therefore you must die' face? I don't know if you've noticed, but it kind of kills the mood."

"Aargh!" Kagome pulled away from him. "I'm sorry, I'm just so _mad_!" She fumed for a few minutes, and Inu-Yasha let her. Kagome was practically boiling the water around her. "Look at the women around us; they're all glaring. I can handle it—I'm the bastard child of the royal family, after all, even if I do get some slack." Her voice cracked, but she determinedly reined it in. "Everything I do is looked down upon, even if I try to help people like being on the patrol. I can't be anything but fatherless, I can't love whoever I want." Inu-Yasha heard her sniff, then angrily wipe her eyes. "Ugh. This is pathetic. I shouldn't be crying." Nevertheless, she sniffed again, and soon her shoulders were shaking.

A part of Inu-Yasha wanted to take her in his arms and say everything was going to be fine, but another part of him felt awkward and unsure of what to do next. Kagome solved the problem by leaning against him, her back pressed against his chest. She turned around so that her face was buried in his neck.

"I want to be human," she murmured softly against his skin. "I want to be human and live on land with you." Slender arms slid up his side; soft hands rested on his back. "That way, there would be no rules, no hesitations."

Inu-Yasha wrapped his arms around her. At this moment, he felt closer to her than any other time, even their first kiss in the abyss. After all, they were both fatherless and looked down upon in their respective societies. Starting from that moment, Inu-Yasha wished Kagome was human, too.

"It's not your fault people can be assholes, Kagome," he told her. "Don't regret who you are. It's not worth it." He ruffled her hair. "Besides, if you keep wallowing in self-pity, I'll throw you into the abyss."

Kagome looked up at him and rolled her eyes. "Because I'd fall, right? Being underwater and everything." Though her eyes were red-rimmed, her smile was grateful. She let her ands drop to catch his. "Thanks," she said, squeezing his hands.

"He he. You owe me one bowl of ramen for that."

"What? You cheat! I'll give you ramen, all right…"

Inu-Yasha narrowed his eyes. He didn't like her tone. "What kind of ramen? No octopus, of course."

"No. Ice-Fish Ramen."

"Say what?"

"You might know it as _fugu. _You know, puffer fish?" Kagome blinked innocently at him. "Then again, if you're not man enough to have some…"

"Excuse me? I fought a shark single-handedly. I can eat whatever shrimp you throw at me." Inu-Yasha forced a laugh. He knew a lot about puffer fish, and what happened when you ate the wrong bits. "Ice-Fish? More like Mice-Fish. Oh, that was a good one."

"Excuse _me, _but I saved your butt against that shark. And shrimp you can eat, but octopus, no? Should I recall that event from the dregs of my mind?"

"Really? I don't remember either of the things you're talking about." Inu-Yasha smirked at her.

Kagome growled and launched herself at him. Inu-Yasha grabbed her head and held her at bag as she clawed at the water. She whacked him in the face with her tail, sending his head spinning.

Finally, after she beat him up sufficiently to her liking, Inu-Yasha pulled her to him and kissed her forehead. When she lifted her face, he kissed her nose. He heard her sigh softly, and grinned. When their lips finally met, Kagome's face bore no trace of a scowl, and Inu-Yasha couldn't have cared less about who saw them there on the street.

* * *

Perhaps if Inu-Yasha had known that it was Kikyo who saw them on the street, he would have cared a bit more.

Kikyo stood motionless only a few blocks away, surrounded by her guards and handmaidens. She had an unreadable expression on her face, but that didn't mean she had no reaction. In truth, she was livid to the tip of her tail. But being the composed princess and everything, she couldn't lose her temper in public. Only in her thoughts could she express how she really felt.

She turned to one of her handmaidens. "It seems that Kagome is brash enough to break one of Father's most important laws in public," she noted calmly. _That bitch! How dare she put the moves on him! I ought to hang her upside down over the biggest damn trench I can find! _

Her handmaiden gasped. "Isn't that Inu-Yasha, one of the mortals?"

"Yes." _Gee, was it the legs that clued you in? The hell is wrong with you? _

Kikyo's eyes narrowed as the couple didn't seem to stop. This wasn't going as planned at all. Kagome could not take Inu-Yasha from her. Only Kikyo could take him legally, with the mer-witch Kaede's help, of course.

Kikyo pressed her lips together so tightly the edges turned white. Kagome would regret ever laying her grubby hands on Inu-Yasha. Simply going up to them wouldn't stop them from continuing once her back was turned, and knowing of Kikyo's jealousy would only make Kagome more determined to keep Inu-Yasha. There had to be a better way to keep them apart.

Thankfully, when the action was legal, it was much easier to stop. Kikyo smiled as she imagined the look on her bastard cousin's face when she realized what happened to people who got in Kikyo's way.

Now to alert her father about the interesting events that had occurred during her little jaunt on the street.

* * *

It was late afternoon when Inu-Yasha and Kagome finally headed for home.

"Before we go," Kagome said, "Let's get some altea."

"In the grocery? We just passed it, though."

She shook her head. "No, not there. There's a better place I know of. It's on the outskirts of the city. Come on."

Inu-Yasha shrugged and followed her. He suspected that she was only doing this partly because she wanted to delay returning home, but he didn't say anything. She'd just deny it.

As they moved farther away from the center of the city, the huge buildings of coral and stone shrunk down in size, and so did the space between the buildings. "Here we are," Kagome said, stopping in front of a tiny building the equivalent of a shack on land. Beside the house was a garden, probably growing with the spices needed for the tea. "Kaede's. The best place to get fresh altea." She lowered her voice and whispered, "Some people say she's a witch." Her voice dropped even lower. "There are rumors that she has certain powers, but there hasn't been any proof. I think it's true, though."

Inu-Yasha was reminded of a certain story he'd heard about mermaids. "Does she have an octopus bottom and two pet eels?" he asked bluntly.

"I heard that, young man," a gruff voice came from inside the hut.

Kagome's shoulders slumped. "No, but she has excellent hearing." Raising her voice, she called out, "Afternoon, Kaede! Got any altea ready?"

An old mermaid swam laboriously out of the hut. Her hair was long and white and tied behind her back. "Oh, it's you, Kagome, hello." Her tone hinted that they knew each other well. Her eyes flicked to Inu-Yasha. "And who might you be, human?"

"Didn't you just answer your own question?"

Kagome thwapped him with her tail.

Kaede chuckled. "I have heard much about you…Inu-Yasha."

Inu-Yasha's jaw dropped. "How did you know my name?"

"I know about the two mortals named Miroku and Inu-Yasha. One was stupid, and the other insolent. The insolent one was spoken of very highly—I have heard your name many times."

"Oh." Inu-Yasha paused. "Glad I'm the insolent one, and not the stupid one."

"Shut up!" Kagome snapped at him. "Kaede, where'd you hear Inu-Yasha's name? This is the first time I've come to you since he came here."

A shadow crossed Kaede's face. "It's not for your ears, Kaede. Any old mermaid could have told me about the mortals."

Kagome narrowed your eyes. "But since you mentioned that fact, that means it _wasn't _any old mermaid. Besides, only one other person—besides me—would speak very highly of 'the insolent one,' and she happens to be in my family." At the guilty look on Kaede's face, Kagome laughed in disbelief. "Kikyo told you about them. Why? What does Kikyo have to do with you?"

"Doesn't wisdom normally come when you get old?" The Insolent One asked. "As in, the wisdom to keep your mouth shut?"

"Shut up!" Kagome said again. "How can you be so rude?"

"Hey! I'm merely being insolent, as she so eloquently described me!"

"In case you didn't get it, it's not a title of honor, it's an insult." Kagome turned her back on a growling Inu-Yasha and glared at Kaede. The old woman met her gaze steadily, though there was worry in her eyes. "Tell me why Kikyo spoke to you," Kagome said. "Tell me why the princess would bother visiting an old woman selling altea."

Kaede dropped her eyes. "To speak would go against the wishes of the princess. I'd be breaking a law."

"You're a witch, aren't you?"

Inu-Yasha rolled his eyes. "Now who's being insolent?"

"Shut up!"

"Don't tell me to shut up, you just called the old hag a witch!"

"Well you just called her a—Why I oughtta—"

"Silence!" Kaede's loud voice made them follow her command. "Goodness, do you two always bicker like this?"

Kagome lowered her eyes. "I'm sorry. But Kaede, you have to tell me if Kikyo's planning anything. It's important to me."

"Oh? And why would the interests of the princess concern someone like you?"

Kagome took a deep breath. "If it concerns Inu-Yasha it concerns me. And don't view it like she's the princess and I'm common. View it like we are cousins and equal. Are you close friends with Kikyo?"

After a long silence, Kaede replied, "No."

"Does she buy altea from you?"

"No."

"Does she mention Inu-Yasha a lot?"

"Yes."

"Does she have a reason?"

Kaede looked up and saw Kagome's face, hard with determination but also lined with worry. "Yes," she said finally.

"What is it?"

After what looked like much inner-debate (and a huge temptation for the Insolent One to say something in the silence), Kaede opened her mouth to respond. But before she could say anything, a loud cry of, "Kagome!" cut her off.

Kagome looked to her right. A mermaid was swimming fast towards her, her face an image of panic. "Sango, what's wrong?" Kagome asked as Sango stopped in front of them, panting.

"Kagome…we came home and…and guards were searching your house…they were looking for you," Sango said between gasps. The blood drained from Kagome's face. "You have to go hide somewhere."

Her worry-filled eyes met her best friend's. "You're a wanted person now. The king's put you under arrest."


End file.
